Under the new decision, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra will head the committee, with Deputy Minister of National Defence Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Gau and Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha serving as deputy heads.
At a conference held on Monday to review the first phase of the “500 Days and Nights Campaign to Accelerate the Location, Recovery and Identification of Martyrs’ Remains”, Bac Ninh’s steering committee reported that, as of October 23, the city had collected samples from 2,758 graves in 215 cemeteries in 92 of its 99 communes and wards. It had obtained 2,147 samples, completing the target 6.5 months ahead of schedule.
In Bac Ninh, more than 13,000 relatives of fallen soldiers have registered to provide DNA samples through the National Population Database System. Vice Chairman of the Bac Ninh People’s Committee Le Xuan Loi said the key tasks ahead are to make full use of records, samples, and test results to verify identities; intensify efforts to find and recover remains outside cemeteries; and step up public outreach to obtain information from witnesses, former comrades-in-arms, and local residents.
The steering committee of Ca Mau province reported on Monday that, between June 17 and September 29, it had submitted 2,570 samples of martyrs’ remains for DNA testing. Provincial police coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security to conduct two rounds of DNA sample collection, obtaining 2,631 samples from relatives of fallen soldiers.
Ca Mau will continue to expedite DNA sample collection from martyrs’ relatives, review and refine records and data, and verify the identities of recovered remains. The province also plans to improve public outreach and communication to support the recovery and identification effort.
