Infographics: Initial outcomes of 500-day campaign race against time to identify fallen soldiers
VGP - Viet Nam’s nationwide 500-day campaign to accelerate the search, recovery and identification of fallen soldiers’ remains has achieved steady progress in its first 111 days, offering renewed hope to thousands of families still seeking answers about their missing loved ones.
The campaign, launched on March 15 this year, combines military, police and scientific efforts to locate remains, collect DNA samples and identify previously unknown martyrs.
Viet Nam still has more than 175,000 fallen soldiers whose remains have not been found and over 300,000 graves lacking full identification, making the work increasingly urgent as many close relatives are now elderly.
To collect DNA samples from the remains of unidentified martyrs buried in cemeteries nationwide, military regions and provincial- and municipal-level authorities have deployed more than 300 teams comprising around 3,500 personnel.
The Ministry of National Defence also mobilised 330 demining teams, involving over 5,000 personnel and more than 1,300 specialised vehicles and equipment, to support search and recovery operations.
To date, authorities have recovered more than 1,300 sets of martyrs' remains, including those from three mass graves. They have also collected DNA samples from over 27,000 graves, with more than 20,000 samples already submitted for analysis, Sơn said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Security has collected nearly 95,000 DNA samples from relatives of fallen soldiers, more than 50,000 of which have been integrated into the national DNA database.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung urged ministries, sectors and localities to further mobilise resources and accelerate the search, recovery and identification of fallen soldiers' remains, describing the nationwide campaign as a significant political and humanitarian mission in the lead-up to the 79th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day on July 27.
