On August 11, Nguyen Thi Thanh Lich, deputy chairwoman of the Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee, said relevant agencies were verifying information and searching for a suspected mass grave at Xuan Son Hill in Kim Son Commune.
Lich asked the provincial Military Command to compile all available information relating to the suspected burial site, particularly witness accounts, records, historical documents and field survey findings, for analysis and cross-checking.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Lich, vice-chair of the Gia Lai Province People's Committee, inspects survey, search and recovery work for fallen soldiers' remains at Xuan Son hill (Photo: Duc Dung).
The deputy chairwoman also called for greater use of science and technology, including research into the use of AI to help locate, analyse and cross-check data from different sources. This would allow authorities to identify more precisely the areas requiring further surveys and searches.
Previously, based on information provided by a US veteran who had taken part in the battle, authorities in the former Binh Dinh Province excavated a mass grave at Xuan Son Hill, recovering the remains of 60 fallen soldiers. They were subsequently reburied at Tang Bat Ho Martyrs' Cemetery in Hoai An Commune.
A hand-drawn map by a US veteran who took part in the battle at Xuan Son hill helped identify the location of a mass burial site for Vietnamese soldiers, providing the basis for the discovery of 60 fallen soldiers in 2022 (Photo: veteran Dang Ha Thuy).
According to the information and location details provided by the US veteran, two mass graves were believed to be located at Xuan Son Hill. After recovering 60 sets of remains from the first grave, authorities continued searching for the second, but have yet to find it.
The remains of 60 fallen soldiers were found in the first burial pit on Xuan Son hill in 2022 (File photo: Doan Cong).
Nguyen Van Thien, chairman of the Kim Son Commune People's Committee, said authorities had previously excavated several locations based on information and documents provided by local residents and officials, but no remains had been found.
According to the Gia Lai Provincial Military Command, the suspected burial site is on a large hill covering a relatively wide area, making manual searches difficult.
The unit is seeking support from the Ministry of National Defence for machinery and equipment and plans to apply technology to assist the search.