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Unexploded ordnance to be cleaned along Laos-China railway

Xinhua, December 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

LUANG NAMTHA, LAOS, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) Some unexploded ordnance (UXO) has to be cleaned along the Laos-China railway to be constructed, Lao officials said.

The Ministry of National Defense has reported to the Luang Namtha provincial government that one of three villages in Namor district, some 360 km northwest of Lao capital Vientiane, where the railway will pass through has yet to be cleared of unexploded bombs.

A provincial coordinator of the Laos-China project, Chanthachone Keolakhone, told media on Wednesday that the three villages of Boten, Tinsan and Nateuy are located within the vicinity of the construction site.

The section in question where UXO may remain is some 16.9 kilometers long.

"The Ministry of National Defence reported the mines are in Nateuy village," he said.

The railway bridge is part of the planned 418-km Laos-China railway that will run from the Chinese border to Vientiane through Luang Namtha, Oudomxay, Luang Prabang and Vientiane provinces.

The Chinese construction company completed about 70 percent of the marking of the railway in Luang Namtha before the company suspended the project to clear some landmines in Nateuy village, said the Lao official.

The Ministry of Lao Public Works and Transport ordered the clearance of UXO in the corridor through which the railway will pass.

Chanthachone added that there are two stations in Luang Namtha but the big station will be in Nateuy village and the smaller one in Boten village, which is situated on the border between Laos and China.

The railway will use a 1.435-metre standard-gauge track. There will be 33 stations, 21 of which will be operational initially.

There will be 72 tunnels with a total length of 183.9 km and 170 bridges totalling 69.2 km in length.

Passenger trains will travel at 160 km per hour, while the speed of rail freight will be 120 km per hour.

The railway in Laos is expected to link with the track in Thailand to form part of the regional rail link known as the Kunming-Singapore railway, covering a total distance of about 3,000 km. Endit