31 Killed On Ho Chi Minh Trail

Police say 30 Vietnamese war veterans and a driver were killed in a bus crash Thursday while en route to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

Authorities say the veterans, including 14 women, were aged 60-70 and had fought for Vietnam's independence against the French and the Americans. They were all from one neighborhood in Hanoi.

District police chief A Tri says the crash happened at about 7:30 a.m. on the old Ho Chi Minh trail - which has been converted into a highway - in Kon Tum province about 90 miles south of Danang when the bus rounded a curve and plummeted about 70 yards off a mountain into a valley.

Police say only two of the 33 people aboard survived and all of the bodies have been recovered.

Tri said 29 people died on the spot, while two others died on the way to the hospital.

The veterans had left Hanoi on Monday as part of a tour to visit old battlefields, intending to arrive in the former South Vietnam capital of Saigon to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the end of the war on April 30.