Hanoi: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Algerian Embassy on March 8 co-organised a ceremony to commemorate Vietnamese and Algerian officials and journalists who perished in a plane crash five decades ago.

On the occasion, the upgraded memorial site for the victims in Soc Son district, Hanoi was inaugurated.

In her remarks, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang recalled that 15 Algerian journalists and technicians, two diplomats, six military officers and flight crew members, and nine Vietnamese journalists lost their lives in the accident while accompanying the then Algerian President Houari Boumediene on his official visit to Vietnam.

In remembrance of the fallen officials and journalists from both countries, the memorial site in Soc Son’s Mai Dinh commune was built in 2000, with its upgrade recently completed.

The site has become a landmark where Vietnamese and Algerians come together every year to commemorate the significant contributions of the previous generations, fostering the t
ime-honoured traditional friendship between Vietnam and Algeria, the diplomat said.

Expressing his gratitude to the ministry, local authorities, and the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group for their efforts in renovating the memorial site, Redha Oucher, a charge d’affaires at the embassy, stressed that the place is considered a strong bridge in the history of the Vietnam-Algeria traditional relationship, evoking the friendship shared between the sides.

At the ceremony, delegates offered incense and paid tribute to the fallen officials and journalists./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency