Crews pull a tank wreck from the sand on the beach on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

GIA LAI — Military crews recovered a corroded tank from a popular beach in central Việt Nam on Wednesday, unearthing a cache of weapons and ammunition, and what appeared to be human remains.

The salvage operation deployed dozens of troops, heavy cranes and excavators along the shore in the central city of Quy Nhơn, working against the tide to extract the rusted hulk from the sand.

The tank is heavily rusted and covered in marine growth after years buried beneath the sand. — VNA/VNS Photo

After several hours, crews hauled the vehicle clear of the beach and trucked it to a military repair depot for assessment.

Among the items recovered were several AR-15 rifles, ammunition and nine artillery shells. Crews also found bone fragments, stainless steel chains and shoes.

The vehicle's identity is still under investigation, though military experts and local historians have tentatively identified it as an M-41 Walker Bulldog, a light tank the US military supplied to its puppet regime of Sài Gòn during the war.

Items recovered include AR-15 rifles and ammunition. — Photo nld.com.vn

The discovery drew a wave of attention on the social media after beachgoers photographed the barnacled, seaweed-encrusted hulk protruding from the sand during an unusually low tide earlier this week.

It is not the first time such a find has surfaced at Quy Nhơn. In 2007, authorities recovered two tanks from the same stretch of beach, both identified as belonging to an armored unit of the Sài Gòn regime's 22nd Division.

Artillery shells were also found. — Photo nld.com.vn

Maj. Gen.Trần Công Thức, a former deputy commander of the Military Region 5, said that North Vietnamese liberation forces – roughly six battalions – launched a direct assault on Quy Nhơn on March 31, 1975, quickly seizing the provincial headquarters.

Retreating troops of the Sài Gòn regime scrambled toward the port in a bid to board evacuation vessels, but artillery fire blocked ships from reaching the shore while infantry pressed the assault along the waterfront.

Many tanks and military vehicles were destroyed and buried in the sand during the fighting.

Tanks of the North Vietnamese liberation forces advance toward Quy Nhơn to liberate the city. — VNA/VNS Photo

By approximately 8pm that day, Quy Nhơn had fallen, a pivotal moment in the broader offensive that swept through central Việt Nam in the spring of 1975. — VNS