Thousands pay respects as Vietnam’s ‘especially outstanding’ leader is buried
- Nguyen Phu Trong, 80, led the Vietnam Communist Party since 2011 and oversaw an anti-corruption drive across the party and nation
Thousands of people lined the streets of Hanoi on Friday to pay their final respects to Vietnam’s Communist Party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the most powerful leader the country has seen in decades.
The 80-year-old, who died in hospital in the capital last week, led the party since 2011 and oversaw a high-profile anti-corruption drive that swept through the party, police, armed forces and businesses.
At 1pm (0600 GMT) on Friday, Trong’s wooden coffin was carried out from Hanoi’s national funeral house by guards of honour and top leaders, including President To Lam and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
Draped in Vietnam’s red and yellow national flag, the coffin was placed on what appeared to be a gun carriage and driven in convoy through the capital’s tree-lined streets, packed with back-clad mourners.
