A funeral was held in Hanoi in the morning of June 30 for nine crewmembers of the CASA-212 aircraft who died in a search and rescue mission.
The funeral took place at the National Funeral House, No 5 Tran Thanh Tong street.
Party General Secretary and Secretary of the Central Military Commission Nguyen Phu Trong, President Tran Dai Quang, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, and President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan led delegations to pay tribute to the deceased and extend condolences to the bereaved families.
In the funeral book, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong wrote that the Party, the State, the army and the people will forever remember the lofty sacrifice that the crewmember have made for the national construction and defence cause.
“Your sacrifice, together with the blood shed by many soldiers during past wars for national independence and freedom, has brightened the national flag,” wrote President Tran Dai Quang.
Among the guest paying tribute to the deceased there were also Minister of National Defence Ngo Xuan Lich, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, who chairs the National Search and Rescue Committee, representatives from central and local agencies, localities and foreign military attachés.
In the eulogy read at the memorial service, Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Thanh, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Air Defence – Air Force Service, reviewed the life and careers of the deceased.
Aircraft CASA-212, coded 8983, of Air Force Brigade 918 lost communication at 12:30 pm on June 16 while searching for pilot Tran Quang Khai of jet fighter SU 30MK2, which lost contact on early June 14 during a training session in the area of Hon Mat Island, about 40km off the coast of Nghe An’s Vinh city.
The body of pilot Khai was found near Hon Mat Island on June 17. Meanwhile, the wreckage of CASA-212 were discovered at 5 nautical miles south-southeast of Bach Long Vi Island near the northern city of Hai Phong.
As of June 28 afternoon, the bodies of eight out of the nine crewmembers of the CASA-212 were retrieved.
President Tran Dai Quang posthumously awarded the Fatherland Defence Order (first class) to all the nine CASA-212 crewmembers.
The bodies of the found crewmembers are to be cremated at Hoan Vu Crematory in Hanoi and laid to rest at war martyr cemeteries in their home provinces.-VNA
