Mortar shell kills two Vietnamese children

Two children in southern Vietnam were killed and their two sisters seriously injured when a Vietnam War-era mortar shell they were playing with exploded.

A 12-year-old girl died in hospital in southern Kien Giang province after the weekend incident, said local government official Le Thi Phuong.

Her 7-year-old brother died yesterday, and two sisters aged 9 and 10 were in a serious condition.

Their village, near the border with Cambodia, was a former communist stronghold during the Vietnam War.