Authorities in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Ngai had made no move as of Friday after residents reported finding an unexploded bomb weighing around half a ton.

Nguyen Duy Trinh, a commune military officer, speculated that the five strangers must be scrap collectors who looked for unexploded bombs and used the dynamite in them for fishing.

Around 50 people living near the bomb, 1.6 meters long and 30 centimeters in diameter, have been terrified for days, Trinh said.

Guards have been positioned to prevent scrap collectors from sawing the bomb for dynamite, while waiting for a special team to defuse the bomb, he added.

Source: Thanh Nien