VietNamNet Bridge - Tying his life with an anonymous cemetery and salvaging unknown bodies in the Red River, Mr. Nguyen Van Dung is called by locals the "Red River knight."

Mr. Dung at the Co Troi shrine in the cemetery.

The small piece of land on the bank of the Red River in Nhat Tan Ward, Tay Ho district, Hanoi is called "anonymous graveyard" because those who are buried there are the unknown corpses found in the Red River.

The "anonymous graveyard" was formed by Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, 44, a resident of Nhat Tan Ward.

"They were dead and drifted here. I picked the bodies from the river and informed the police to verify who they are but nobody received the bodies. I buried them here and burn incense for them every day but no one knows who they are and how they died," Dung said.

Dung said this cemetery was formed in the 80s. The first who was buried here is a young woman. In 1966, on a rainy day, when the water lever in the Red River rose highly, local people found the body of a girl of about 18 years old in the river. Dung’s father and others salvaged the body and buried the woman on the bank of the Red River.

After one night, the tomb suddenly got bigger because a termite nest was formed there. Near the tomb, a fig tree grew up. Because nobody knew the girl in the tomb, they called the tomb of the drowned woman or “Co Troi.” The pier where the body was found has been also named “Co Troi” since then.

"She (Co Troi) has supernatural power because more and more bodies drifted to this area, like they were kept by Co Troi,” said Dung.

Dung said, in 1983 when he was 13 years old, while playing with other kids on the riverside, he unexpectedly fell sick so he walked along the river and found a dead man in the water. Without panicking, Dung pulled the body to the shore and carried it to the tomb of Co Troi.

Since then, each time he saw a corpse floating on the river, Dung and local people salvaged it and informed the authorities. If the victims were not identified and nobody received the corpses, Dung buried them near the tomb of Co Troi.

The anonymous cemetery has been gradually expanded. Some families knew about the cemetery and came here to find their unfortunate relatives.

At present, the cemetery is home to 66 unknown people. The oldest tomb is over 30 years and the latest tomb is just 4 months.

Pointing to two tombs, Dung said: "They are the tombs of a couple of 27-30 years old. They drifted here on July 31. Perhaps they committed suicide together.”

Located in a prime location near the river, the 80sq.m cemetery is surrounded by flower gardens. 66 graves were built carefully, with a censer and a flower pot in front of each grave. In the middle of the cemetery is the grave of Co Troi, a fig tree and a small shrine.

Dung, who has salvaged over 100 dead people from the river, still remembers each corpse. "I do not study a lot but I remember all the people in these graves."

Pointing to a grave behind the tomb of Co Troi, he said: "This tomb has been here for 20 years. It is the tomb of a woman of about 40 years old. When it drifted here, the body began to decompose, some organs were eaten by fish and the belly was flat. I guess that she was murdered and thrown into the river."

Another tomb is located near the tomb of Co Troi is the one of a boy of about 10 years old, who was buried here 15 years ago.

"That year the Red River water rose very high. The boy drifted here with only a singlet on his body. Perhaps he was swept away by floods," Dung said.

Sitting on the ground to have a smoke, he sighed: "So many bodies. I salvaged a lot of corpses every year. Looking at the expanded cemetery, my heart is painful. They were born with families but they have to be here alone. But we don’t know who they are to search for their families."

Starting the “job” of salvaging dead people on the Red River at the age of 13, after nearly 30 years, Dung has picked up 499 corpses.

Dung said in 1994, a shipwreck occurred in Phu Thuong commune, at around 3am. That day, Dung picked up 40 bodies from the river. He was fainted because of exhaustion.

Many families asked for Dung’s help to search for the bodies of their relatives who committed suicide by jumping into the river but Dung never took money from them. Not only salvaging dead bodies, Dung bought coffins with his own money and buried them.

After getting married, Dung and his wife built a tent on the riverbank. Many people said he was crazy, but he said: "I don’t care what they say. Living on the riverbank I can salvage unfortunate people and quickly save drowned people.”

Zing