Thirty Vietnamese war veterans and a driver were killed in a bus crash Thursday en route to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

The crash occurred about 7.30am on part of the old Ho Chi Minh trail that has been converted into a highway in Kon Tum province, about 150 kilometers south of Danang.

The bus left the road and plummeted about 70 meters into a valley. Only two of 33 people aboard survived.

The veterans, including 14 women, were aged 60-70 and had fought for Vietnam's independence against the French and the Americans and were all from one neighborhood in Hanoi.

They left Hanoi Monday as part of a tour of old battlefields with plans to arrive in the former South Vietnam capital of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, April 30 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the end of the war.

A small group of elderly men huddled over a list of those killed, searching for people they knew, at a local government office in Hanoi.

``It's a tragedy and a big loss for our people,'' said one man, 83, a veteran of Dien Bien Phu who knew two of the victims. ``They were my friends.''

Another woman in the neighborhood said her husband, also a veteran, had wanted to go on the same bus trip but he could not afford the three million dong (HK$1,474) cost.

``They went on that trip to visit the battlefields but it turned out to be a big funeral for them,'' said Pham Thi Tan, aged 70. ``We were very lucky.'' Nearly 1,000 of the veterans met General Vo Nguyen Giap - who led the defeat of French and American forces - at the start of the symbolic 1,800km road journey from Hanoi.

Giap had greeted veterans from all over the country at Hanoi's Opera House Wednesday and told them to extend his thanks to all those along the way who helped reunify the country. ``The party and nation will never forget the many great contributions during those wars.''

Giap, now 93, was Vietnam's military mastermind of guerrilla warfare.

His unique strategies, including the battle of Dien Bien Phu against the French and the Tet offensive against the Americans, are still studied in the country's military academies.ASSOCIATED PRESS