ROSEMARY CHURCH, WORLD NEWS: United Nations interim forces in southern Lebanon have been told thousands of land mines are still buried in the former Israeli occupation zone. The delicate task of disarming them rests with minesweepers. CNN's Chris Riker reports an inventor in the United Kingdom is working on a device that could be a great help.</s>CHRIS RIKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A deadly legacy of war - land mines. An agency of the British government is wrapping up tests on an invention to take a lot of the danger out of disarming land mines. The device is called Bigfoot. Its designer says it is not only safer than currently used ordnance disposal methods, it is also faster.</s>BOB FRENCH, BIGFOOT INVENTOR: I was watching the television news one night and saw Princess Diana in Africa, and she was with people who were poking sticks in the ground trying to find land mines. Well, I was doing that 35 years ago, and I couldn't believe that people were still doing that - why they weren't using mechanical devices. So I put my mind to it, and this is what we've come up with.</s>RIKER: Bigfoot has a row of feet that clear any mine within their path while operated by remote control from a safe distance. A second remote controlled vehicle follows, excavating the soil and safely removing any unexploded mines. And it's no small job. In a recent report, the American Red Cross estimated there are 110 million anti-personnel mines still buried in 64 countries around the world.</s>PAT BANKS, INDEPENDENT MINES OBSERVATORY: In April, we had an incident in the minefield above Sarajevo. Three children were injured by a</s>RIKER: While these units are prototypes, the inventor says production models could be coming off the assembly line within months, ready for deployment around the world. Chris Riker, CNN.
UK Inventor Develops Device for Clearing Land Mines