State funeral, to be held for Vietnam president

Hanoi : Vietnam yesterday announced a state funeral and two days of national mourning for President Tran Dai Quang, who died Friday aged 61. Flags will be flown at half-mast and entertainment venues shut for two days starting September 26, when Quang’s body will lie in state in Hanoi before being buried in his home town in Ninh Binh province the next day.

“His passing away is a great loss for our party, state and people,” the Communist Party of Vietnam said in a statement yesterday, adding that the funeral would be broadcast live. Condolences have poured in from across geopolitical divides, with Cuba announcing its own mourning period and US President Donald Trump calling him a “great friend of the United States” in a statement Friday.

The leaders of Cambodia and China also sent tributes, even though Quang’s time in office since 2016 was marked by tensions with Beijing over disputed waterways in the South China Sea. The cause of death was identified in state media as a “rare virus” though no further details were provided.