Thirty Vietnamese war veterans killed in bus crash
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-21 19:03

Thirty Vietnamese war veterans and a driver were killed in a bus crash Thursday while en route to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, police said.

The crash occurred at about 7:30 a.m. on the old Ho Chi Minh trail _ which has been converted into a highway _ in Kon Tum province about 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of Danang when the bus rounded a curve and plummeted about 70 meters (yards) off a mountain into a valley, said A Tri, district police chief.

Only two of the 33 people aboard survived and all of the bodies have been recovered, he said.

The veterans, including 14 women, were aged 60-70 and had fought for Vietnam's independence against the French and the Americans, he said. They were all from one neighborhood in Hanoi.

Tri said 29 people died on the spot, while two others died on the way to a hospital.

The veterans left Hanoi on Monday as part of a tour to visit old battlefields with plans to arrive in the former South Vietnam capital of Saigon to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the end of the war on April 30, said a local official from Hanoi who gave his name only as Lien.

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