Preah Vihear provincial authorities held a ceremony yesterday to hand over the remains of 37 Vietnamese troops killed during fighting with the Khmer Rouge.

Provincial police chief Sy Kiry told the Post that more than 60 Vietnamese delegates, led by Gia Lai provincial governor Pham The Dung, were present at the ceremony to collect the soldiers’ remains.

The Vietnamese delegation also granted $50,000 to provincial authorities to construct a remembrance stupa from the two governments, and to build a small genocide museum, he added.

“We expected to find the remains of 32 troops in 2012-13, but we found the remains of 37,” he said, adding that the remains of a total 445 troops had been found since the searches began in 2005.

According to Kiry, the ceremony was the ninth held to hand back remains to Vietnamese authorities, with a new mission to find more remains to be launched next year.