HANOI, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam on Thursday held memorial service for nine crew members of a CASA airplane which crashed on June 16 in waters off northern Vietnam while carrying out search and rescue for a missing pilot on SU-30 fighter.
A mourning ceremony started on 7:00 a.m. local time (00:00 GMT) on Thursday, following rites of Vietnams People Army, reported the state-run radio VOV.
From 6:00 a.m. local time, hundreds of relatives, comrades of the martyrs have been making long queues in front of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) Funeral House, preparing to say farewell to the deceased.
Party and state leaders of Vietnam came to pay tribute to the martyrs, including General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong, President Tran Dai Quang, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, among others.
The SU-30 aircraft with two pilots lost contact on June 14 during a training mission about 40km off the coast of Vietnams central Nghe An province. One of the two pilots was later rescued by fishermen while pilot Tran Quang Khai went missing.
When searching for Khai, the CASA aircraft lost communication on June 16. It was then located at 5 nautical miles south-southeast of Bach Long Vi island in waters off Vietnams northern of Hai Phong City.
The body of pilot Khai was found on June 17, near Hon Mat Island.
So far, the search and rescue forces have found eight out of the nine crewmembers of the CASA aircraft.
Relevant agencies are working together to decode the black boxes of the CASA to find out the reasons for the crash.
Memorial service for Tran Quang Khai was held last Tuesday in Nghe An province.
