Sleepless night in Lai Da

In contrast to the "suffocating" scene from morning until 11pm on July 25, when tens of thousands of people from many rural areas flocked to the Lai Da Village Cultural House, Dong Hoi Commune (Dong Anh District, Hanoi) to pay their respects to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, from 0am on July 26, this place was unusually quiet.

At the security checkpoint located at the entrance to Lai Da village, ropes were stretched, machines were covered with cloth and remained still because visiting hours were over. Some officers and staff on duty in the village area were given a break to prepare for the next working day on the morning of July 26. Only 3 security forces and police remained on duty at night.

"We have just finished arranging the wreaths and facilities at the memorial site to prepare to welcome the delegations this morning," said a soldier.

Security forces maintain order at the site of the Lai Da Village Cultural House at 2:00 a.m. on July 26 (Photo: My Ha)

Sharing more with reporters, a police officer said that although visiting hours end at 11:30 p.m., some people from provinces near Hanoi still want to come and pay their respects. We have to explain clearly so that people can understand and wait until tomorrow to come and pay their respects at the scheduled time.

"Most of these people come from neighboring areas and want to visit the country's outstanding leader, but we have to excuse ourselves and wait until tomorrow," said this soldier.

According to Dan Tri reporter, on Lai Da street (main road of Lai Da village), nearly 2km long, there is a village cultural house, where the funeral is held in the middle, about 800m from the village gate, about 900m from the exit gate to Trai hamlet - the way up to the Red River dike. This entire route is prohibited for all motor vehicles.

From the beginning of Lai Da village to the place where General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was being visited, there were about 6 main checkpoints. Due to the impact of the early afternoon thunderstorm on July 25, at these checkpoints in the evening, some additional tarpaulins or “field” umbrellas were stretched to avoid the night dew and protect the machinery.

Unlike the long funeral procession of thousands of people before 11pm on July 25, Lai Da street was very quiet in the early morning of July 26 (Photo: My Ha).

According to Major Do Thanh Trung, the neighboring commune police were mobilized to support "checkpoint 1" in Lai Da village, the first checkpoint mainly reminded people about means of transport and directed people to park their vehicles in the right place.

The remaining checkpoints, the day shift, mainly participate in guiding the order of the visiting groups, guiding people to move in the right order, and proactively cutting off the number of groups visiting at a time, so that not too many people enter the same group.

Outside Lai Da village, the lights are also on tonight. The Dong Hoi Commune People's Committee headquarters has nearly ten people on duty at various positions.

Mr. Pham Tien Dung, Chairman of the Commune Farmers' Association, stands guard at the gate of the commune headquarters. According to Mr. Dung, in addition to his duty of maintaining security and order in the commune People's Committee area, he also supports and guides people from far away to Dong Hoi to pay their respects to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

At Dong Hoi Primary School, the electric car drivers, after 18 hours of continuous work on July 25, still hadn’t slept. They laid out mats to rest right in the stage area, chatting. Their last trip ended at midnight on July 26. A few hours later, when the cars were fully charged, they got back on the cars to take people to the village to pay their respects to the General Secretary.

There was also a special guest in the elementary school tonight. That was Ms. Tra My, 40 years old, who drove her motorbike alone from Vinh Bao, Hai Phong to Hanoi to attend the funeral of the General Secretary she admired.

Unable to find a place to stay, Ms. My went to school to ask for a place to stay overnight, waiting for dawn to visit the General Secretary, and at the same time join the people of the whole country in sending him off to his final resting place.

As of the end of July 25, according to the Organizing Committee, more than 36,000 people had come to pay their respects to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the Lai Da Village Cultural House, Dong Hoi Commune, Dong Anh District, Hanoi – the hometown of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Many people traveled thousands of kilometers to come here to line up to pay their respects to the General Secretary.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/dem-khong-ngu-o-lai-da-20240726033623239.htm