Vietnam launches large‑scale excavation for collective war graves in Quảng Ngãi

On 5–11 June 2024, the Quảng Ngãi Provincial Military Command’s K53 excavation team began a systematic search for a suspected collective burial site of 70‑90 soldiers who fell in February 1968. The unit dug four primary trenches, each up to 3 m deep and a total of more than 1,000 m³ of earth was removed along Trường Chinh road in the Đăk Cấm and Kon Tum areas.

Although no remains have yet been uncovered, the detailed soil‑layer analysis has helped narrow the probable locations of the graves. The operation is part of a provincial “500‑day night” campaign to locate, exhume and identify war‑time remains. Past discoveries in 2001 and 2008 yielded 30 identified remains from the same road. Lt. Col. Trần Thế Phan inspected the work on 10 June, praising the team's diligence and stressing the humanitarian and historical importance of the mission.