International media spotlight General Giap funeral

The BBC reported that millions of Vietnamese followed the memorial for Vietnam's greatest General, who gained international renown with victories over the French and US armies.

The US-based Associated Press (AP) described the hundreds of thousands of people who flooded the streets of Hanoi on October 13 to bid a final farewell to the legendary war hero.

"Long live Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap", people chanted, many in tears, as his coffin passed by on an artillery carriage.

AP quoted one onlooker as saying, "I feel like I lost one of my relatives", adding that General Giap will live forever in the heart of Vietnamese people.

The news agency described the funeral as an event the likes of which have not been seen since President Ho Chi Minh passed away more than four decades ago. Some 150,000 queued up outside General Giap's house over the course of five days to pay respects to him.

The country's leaders, veterans and diplomats paid their last farewell to the deceased on Saturday. The national flag was flown at half-mast and entertainment events were cancelled.

Reuters news agency reported that hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese citizens flocked to General Giap's house to show their respects over the past week.

Bloomberg describes how, after the passing of General Giap, Vietnamese clutching yellow daisies and umbrellas to shield themselves from the hot afternoon sun formed queues outside the General's home in Hoang Dieu Street in Hanoi that stretched nearly a kilometer to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

General Vo Nguyen Giap passed away on October 4 at the age of 103. A two-day State funeral was held nationwide on October 12 and 13. He was buried in his home province of Quang Binh earlier today.

(Source: Nhandannewspaperonline)