Remains of 311 soldiers found in mass graves underneath Ho Chi Minh City park

Eight mass graves containing the remains of war martyrs have been uncovered at Le Thi Rieng Park in Ho Chi Minh City, as search teams continue efforts to recover and identify remains of fallen soldiers.

The teams have so far recovered 311 sets of remains at the site, including 278 individual remains and 33 from the eight mass graves. The remains were found along with 179 personal belongings.

On Aug. 13 alone, the search teams removed more than 300 cu.m of soil and expanded search area, recovering 18 sets of remains and 12 associated belongings.

The search has focused on a burial trench where teams are working through a large volume of soil from an embankment created during the park's renovation. The Ho Chi Minh City Military High Command has deployed three excavators, one dump truck and two 3.5-tonne trucks to accelerate excavation and soil removal.

Soldiers excavate a burial trench at Le Thi Rieng Park in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Tung

Lieutenant Colonel Le Ngoc Ha, head of the K74 martyrs’ remains search and recovery team, said it is conducting the search with the utmost determination while ensuring care and caution throughout the operation.

The recovered remains have been transferred to the memorial hall. Personal belongings found alongside them, including scarves, belts, sandals, combs and pens, are being carefully preserved in line with technical guidelines.

Authorities are examining the belongings and other information to verify the identities of the fallen soldiers and look for their relatives.

Vietnam has recovered the remains of around 1,500 soldiers since March in a 500-day campaign aimed to recover about 7,000 sets of remains from the war.

Le Thi Rieng Park, a public green space in the city's Hoa Hung Ward, was built over Do Thanh Cemetery, also known as the Chi Hoa-Saigon burial ground.