Hà Nội commemorates victims of US airstrike HÀ NỘI - A delegation of Hà Nội officials led by municipal Party Committee Secretary Hoàng Trung Hải laid wreaths at the B52 victory monument on Hà Nội’s Khâm Thiên street on Tuesday, December 26.   The wreaths were laid to commemorate those who lost their lives during the US airstrike in December 1972. The United States waged a bombing campaign in the north of Việt Nam in late 1972, and the peak of this campaign was the blitz by B52 aircraft in Hà Nội from December 18 to 29.  On the night of December 26, 1972, Hà Nội’s densely-populated residential areas, including Khâm Thiên Street, the workers’ living quarter on An Dương street and Bạch Mai hospital, were relentlessly attacked by several B52s. As many as 278 people, including 91 women, 40 elderly and 55 children, were killed and 178 children became orphans during the air raid. In remembrance of the victims, a memorial was erected at House No. 51 on Khâm Thiên Street. During the December 26 bombing, House No 51 was destroyed and all seven people living in it died. The same day, representatives from the Hà Nội chapter of the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union, local citizens, students and pupils also laid wreaths and offered incense in commemoration of the victims of the airstrike.  VNS