UN in Agent Orange cleanup in Vietnam

The UN announced a $5 million (Dh18.4m) project to clean up wartime contamination in Vietnam from Agent Orange sprayed by the US military, but said more money is needed.

The project by the UN development agency will focus on contamination at the airport in Bien Hoa, which the UN's resident coordinator, John Hendra, said was the worst-affected site. Experts have also identified two other former US air bases, at Danang and Phu Cat, as key "hotspots" of dioxin contamination.

Dioxin was a component of Agent Orange and other herbicides stored at the bases. US aircraft sprayed the chemicals to strip trees of their foliage during the Vietnam War, depriving communist Viet Cong forces of cover and food. Vietnam blames dioxin for a spate of birth deformities, and it has been linked to cancer.