Waterway traffic under the Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi was blocked on Tuesday as a military team began to retrieve an American war-era bomb recently found near one pillar of the Vietnamese capital’s iconic structure.

The traffic suspension was in effect between 12:30 pm and 4:30 pm, according to the northern chapter of the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration.

The bomb was found at a location five meters away from the P13 pillar of the Long Bien Bridge and on the Tu Liem-Trung Ha water route, passing through Ngoc Thuy Ward, Long Bien District.

Local residents first noticed a strange object under the bridge last week and immediately notified local authorities.

Officers from the High Command of Capital Hanoi and High Command of Military Engineering inspected the scene on Sunday and confirmed that the object is a bombshell before beginning to prepare a plan to retrieve it.

A diver jumps into the Hong (Red) River to retrieve a bomb in Hanoi, November 28, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The location of the bomb is marked with a plastic container.

At around 1:30 pm on Tuesday, the retrieving process started with divers approaching the bomb and tying a robe around it.

At 2:10 pm, the explosive was successfully taken ashore and was immediately transferred away from the bridge.

The bombshell measures about two meters in length and 0.5 meters in diameter, and might have been among the bombs dropped on northern Vietnam during the U.S. destruction war in the 1960s.

Military engineers and divers discuss before retrieving the bomb.

A diver begins to approach the bomb location.

A diver discusses with officers during the retrieving task.

The bomb is transported away from the Long Bien Bridge after the successful retrieval.

Commuters stop to watch the bomb retrieval on the Long Bien Bridge.

One of Hanoi’s landmarks, the 2.5-km cantilever Long Bien Bridge, spanning the Red River, was built in 1903 by French architect Gustave Eiffel, who designed the Eiffel Tower 14 years earlier.

From 1899 to 1902, more than 3,000 Vietnamese took part in the construction.

The bridge was once named Doumer, after Paul Doumer, the Governor General of French Indochina and later the French President.

At that time, it was one of the longest bridges in Asia with a length of 1,682 meters.

Long Bien Bridge

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