Authorities find mass grave of Vietnamese soldiers killed during Vietnam War
HANOI - Authorities in central Vietnam have discovered a mass grave containing the remains of 17 people believed to have been communist soldiers killed during the Vietnam War, an official said Monday.
The excavation work is continuing and authorities believe as many as several hundred former communist commandos might be buried at the site in Vinh Dien town, in Quang Nam province.
Local authorities were told about the site by several former communist soldiers, said Nguyen Van Hong, chairman of Vinh Dien People's Committee.
Quang Nam is in central Vietnam, some 850 kilometers (530 miles) south of Hanoi.
Excavation started on June 20 and some 40 militiamen and villagers are still digging at the 400 sq. meter (4,304 sq. feet) site, he said.
Hong said authorities recently interviewed a former communist soldier who told them about the site and said he had been forced to bury the bodies there by U.S.-backed South Vietnamese troops in 1971.
The remains, none of which were identified, will be buried in a military cemetery later this week, Hong said.
An estimated 58,000 Americans and 3 million Vietnamese were killed in the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975.
The Asociated Press - June 25, 2007.
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