By Bennett Murray
HANOI (AA) – A pair of Vietnamese Communist Party officials were killed Thursday morning in an apparent murder and suicide carried out by a colleague. Pham Duy Cuong, the Communist Party chief for Yen Bai province and member of the party’s powerful Central Committee, was killed along with Ngo Ngoc Tuan, chairman of the provincial People’s Council, reported the local Tuoi Tre newspaper. The suspect, who shot himself dead at the scene, was Do Cuong Minh, head of the province’s Department for Forest Management. The murder occurred in a meeting hall as Cuong prepared to chair a discussion.
Both victims died from blood loss after arriving to hospital. Murders of politicians are almost unheard of in Vietnam, where the Communist Party has enjoyed a monopoly on power since the country’s reunification in 1975. The incident prompted Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to travel to Yen Bai to help handle the situation.
