A Deadly Harvest of Cluster Bombs in Laos

Viengkeo Kavongsone had lived in fear of such a catastrophe all his life - in the jungle, in the paddy fields, on the mountain - but never in his own back yard. It was late afternoon when it happened, and his wife, Van, and three young children were at home in their village in the province of Xieng Khouang in northern Laos. They were clearing the ditch that drains rainwater from their little wooden house.

The tin shovel scraped upon something hard and metallic - and that was the last thing they recalled.