Data updated by the search team under the Ho Chi Minh City Command by the afternoon of July 10 showed that authorities had found 13 more sets of remains and eight sets of personal effects, bringing the total number of remains recovered to 29.
This is the highest number of martyrs' remains found in a single day since authorities began excavation at Le Thi Rieng Park. On July 11, the Ho Chi Minh City Command will continue the search and announce the results at the end of the day.
Authorities search for martyrs' remains at Le Thi Rieng Park on July 10 (Photo: Ngoc Tan).
The search and recovery operation at Le Thi Rieng Park was launched following the conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra at a workshop verifying information about a mass grave of martyrs in the area of Do Thanh - Chi Hoa cemetery, now Le Thi Rieng Park.
Earlier, based on witness accounts and historical records, the Ho Chi Minh City Command estimated that hundreds of martyrs killed during the 1968 Tet Offensive and Uprising may have been buried in what is now Le Thi Rieng Park.
During the search on July 6, authorities found seven sets of remains. One of them carried information identifying martyr Huynh Van Quen.
Later, a family in Vam Co Commune, Tay Ninh Province, said the remains belonged to their relative. A working delegation met members of Le's family to verify the related information.
On the morning of July 7, authorities took Huynh Van Nho and Huynh Van Muoi, who said they were the younger brothers of martyr Huynh Van Quen, for DNA sampling.
On the morning of July 9, the Ho Chi Minh City Command deployed an excavator to widen the excavation pit towards the concrete roadway inside Le Thi Rieng Park. Authorities dug a pit tw metres deep, five metres long and three metres wide, with about 50 cubic metres of soil removed.