Vietnamese president dies of illness

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang died on Friday morning in a hospital in Hanoi at the age of 61, after a long time of disease, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang [File photo: AP/Tran Van Minh]

Quang was born on Oct. 12, 1956 in northern Vietnam's Ninh Binh province. He held a doctorate degree on law and a master's degree on Chinese, and was conferred the title of professor in 2009.

In April 2016, the National Assembly of Vietnam, the country's top legislature, elected Quang as the Vietnamese president.