HCM City officials said on July 6 that excavations behind the park's memorial monument uncovered a burial trench measuring about 25 metres long and three metres wide after two days of digging.
The site has so far yielded five sets of remains, a military poncho and hammock, along with several artefacts considered valuable for the investigation.
Nguyen Manh Cuong, deputy chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, said the discovery supported earlier assessments by the steering committee overseeing the search and offered fresh hope that more remains could be recovered.
At the site of the suspected mass grave, teams will continue excavation and the search for martyrs' remains in line with professional procedures.
The search and recovery operation at Le Thi Rieng Park was launched following conclusions by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra at a workshop verifying information about a mass grave in the area of the former Do Thanh Chi Hoa cemetery, now Le Thi Rieng Park.
The effort also forms part of the city's peak-phase "500-day campaign to search for, recover and identify martyrs' remains still lacking information".
Speaking to Dantri/Dtinews, Colonel Nguyen Dinh Chuan, deputy political commissar of the Ho Chi Minh City Command, said initial assessments had identified the five sets of remains as those of martyrs. Sampling and identification work will be carried out in the next stages.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung visited the excavation site on July 6, where he witnessed the recovery of the remains. Forensic samples were collected before the remains were placed in coffins, and the prime minister joined the procession carrying the coffins to the memorial house.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung offers incense at the memorial stele to fallen heroes at Le Thi Rieng Park.
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra offers incense at the memorial stele to fallen heroes.
Le Minh Hung said the search and recovery must be carried out methodically, safely and thoroughly, and urged Ho Chi Minh City to coordinate closely with the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Public Security to mobilise maximum resources and speed up identification work.
