Respects paid to Algerian journalist victims in 1974 Hanoi plane crash

Algiers (VNA) – Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Vinh has laid flowers at a monument on Journalistes du Vietnam 8/3/1974 Street in Algiers to commemorate Algerian journalists who died in a plane crash on the outskirts of Hanoi in 1974.

Fifteen Algerian journalists, their nine Vietnamese counterparts and three crewmembers covering Algerian President Houari Boumediene’s official visit to Vietnam died on March 8, 1974 after their plane crashed in Hanoi’s Soc Son district.

Both Vietnam and Algeria have established monuments in each respective country to commemorate the accident. One was erected at the scene in Soc Son on the occasion of late Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s State visit to Vietnam in October 2000 and the other, in a street in Algiers.

Speaking at the respect-paying event on March 8, Ambassador Vinh said the annual commemoration reflects Vietnamese people’s fine tradition of showing gratitude towards the deceased and pays tribute to those who contributed to the development of the long-standing relations between the two countries.

President of the Algeria – Vietnam Friendship Association Taveb Cherfaoui said it provides an opportunity for people from both sides to learn more about their predecessors’ sacrifices and heighten their sense of responsibilities in constantly expanding mutual understanding and further boosting the bilateral relations. This is also what the deceased had been doing before the crash, he stated.

On the following day, the diplomat delivered a remark at a forum held by Algerian national newspaper El Moudjahid to pay respects to the Algerian victims./.