Soldiers of team K74 accelerate the search for the remains of fallen soldiers in Lê Thị Riêng Park, HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Team K74, the martyrs' remains search and recovery unit under the HCM City Military High Command, recovered another 19 sets of remains at Lê Thị Riêng Park on Thursday, lifting the total found at the site to 701.

The tally comprises 668 individual sets of remains and 33 sets from eight mass graves, along with 304 sets of personal artifacts.

To keep the operation on schedule, the team deployed three excavators, one dump truck and two 3.5-tonne trucks on the same day, clearing more than 500cu.m of earth for excavation and haulage.

Lieut. Col. Lê Ngọc Hà, head of Team K74, said intense heat and frequent rain have not slowed the work. Officers and soldiers are determined to "overcome the heat and prevail over the rain", he said, and are working fast without cutting corners on thoroughness or safety, so that no remains go unrecovered or unidentified.

The HCM City Military High Command said the city will hold a memorial service for the martyrs found at the park, followed by a reburial ceremony at the municipal Martyrs' Cemetery. — VNA/VNS