Team K74 search for martyrs' remains in an excavation pit at Lê Thị Riêng Park. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The Military Command of HCM City announced on Tuesday that 58 individual sets of martyrs’ remains have been found and recovered during the first five days of the second phase of a search operation at Lê Thị Riêng Park in the city’s Hòa Hưng Ward.

Among the discovered, 15 sets are accompanied by personal belongings.

Following the memorial and re-burial service of remains recovered during the first phase at the park on October 14, the municipal Military Command’s team for martyrs’ remains recovery (Team K74) promptly launched the second phase on October 15 to search for the remains of soldiers who fell during the 1968 Spring General Offensive and Uprising.

From October 15 to 20, officers and soldiers of Team K74 worked through difficulties caused by heavy rain in HCM City, expanding the excavation area and processing around 500cu.m of soil each day. Their efforts resulted in the recovery of 58 sets of martyrs’ remains during the first five days of the second phase.

On October 20 alone, the team deployed three excavators, one dump truck and two lorries to process more than 550 cubic metres of soil, uncovering 11 sets of remains, along with four sets of personal belongings.

From June 23 to October 20, a total of 789 sets of martyrs’ remains, including 322 accompanied by personal belongings, were retrieved at Lê Thị Riêng Park. Of these, 756 were found individually while the remaining 33 were recovered from eight mass grave sites.

The HCM City Military Command affirmed that the search and recovery operation is continuing with a strong sense of responsibility, reflecting profound gratitude to the fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives for national liberation, construction and defence. — VNA/VNS