HÀ NỘI — A Vietnamese female student named Nguyễn Bích Ngọc in France who was reported to go missing since January 2024 has been confirmed dead by French authorities, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry Phạm Thu Hằng said on June 6.

At the ministry's regular press conference, the spokesperson said as soon as receiving information that Ngoc had not contacted her family since January, the Vietnamese Embassy in France notified the French police to search for her and coordinated with Vietnamese representative agencies in neighbouring countries to closely follow the incident.

Recently, the French police discovered a body in an apartment on the outskirts of Paris, and after verifying the body's identification, French authorities confirmed that the dead was Ngọc.

The Vietnamese Embassy has informed and supported Ngọc's family to go to France as well as collaborated with local authorities to carry out necessary legal procedures.

Under the direction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the embassy is continuing to coordinate with French authorities to clarify the cause of the incident and assist her family to quickly bring the deceased’s ashes back to Việt Nam.

The spokesperson sent her deepest condolences to Ngọc's family for the great loss.

She emphasised that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises Vietnamese citizens residing in other countries to carrying out citizen registration procedures at Vietnamese representative agencies abroad so as to receive quick and timely support in case of emergencies such as this one. — VNS