Mourners pay their respects to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the National Funeral House No. 5 Tran Thanh Tong, Hanoi. Photo: VOV

The respect-paying ceremony is taking place from 7 am to 1 pm on Friday. The memorial service will be held at 1 pm at the National Funeral House on Friday, which will be followed by the burial ceremony at 3 pm on the same day at Mai Dich Cemetery in Hanoi.

On Thursday, the first day of national mourning, the visiting time was extended by 1-2 hours to live up to the general public’s wish, as crowds of mourners waited in long lines to pay respects to the Party leader.

Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee extended visiting time to 11 pm instead of 10 pm. In Hanoi, people lined the streets around the funeral home. Photos of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong were held in hand. At 11 pm, the mourners finally made it inside the National Funeral House to bid farewell to General Secretary Trong for the last time. Meanwhile, in the General Secretary's hometown, the last group of visitors entered the Lai Da village Cultural House at 11 pm.

People line up to pay their respects to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong outside Thong Nhat Hall, Ho Chi Minh city. Photo: VOV

According to the Organizing Committee, from 7 am to 7.30 pm on Thursday, 1,565 delegations of about 55,600 people came to pay their respects, sent wreaths and condolences to the family of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.