THOUSANDS of mourners gathered in Hanoi today for the second day of the funeral of the Communist Party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Mr Trong’s coffin, draped in the red and yellow of Vietnam’s flag, was laid beneath his smiling portrait and dozens of medals at the National Funeral House in Hanoi on Thursday. 

All flags in the south-east Asian nation flew at half-mast during the two-day period of national mourning, while all sports and entertainment were suspended.

Mr Trong was buried at Mai Dich cemetery, the final resting place for military heroes and senior party officials.

Top Communist Party officials paid tribute, including President To Lam, who took over as caretaker general secretary a day before Trong’s death was announced. 

Thousands of people, many of whom had travelled from far-flung provinces, queued up in Hanoi late into Thursday to light incense and pay their respects.

Politburo member Luong Cuong said Thursday that his death was “an extremely huge, irreparable loss to the party, the state, the people and his family.”

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck Soo, Wang Huning from the Communist Party of China, former Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga, Cuban National Assembly President Esteban Lazo Hernandez and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval were among those in attendance on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement on Telegram that Mr Trong would be remembered as a “true friend” of Russia who made a “great personal contribution” to the improvement of ties between the two nations.

United States President Joe Biden had said earlier that Mr Trong was a “champion of the deep ties” between Americans and the Vietnamese.

Mr Trong was the first Vietnamese Communist Party leader to visit the White House. 

A new general secretary will be elected at the National Congress of Vietnam’s Communist Party in 2026. Mr Lam is expected to continue in a caretaker role until that time.