DAR ES SALAAM, April 4 (Xinhua) -- China and Tanzania on Saturday jointly commemorated Chinese experts who sacrificed their lives during the construction of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA), marking 50 years since the railway's commercial operations began.
Dignitaries from both countries gathered at the Chinese Expert Cemetery in Dar es Salaam, where they solemnly laid wreaths at the graves of the fallen heroes in a gesture of remembrance and respect during the Qingming Festival, a traditional Chinese occasion for paying tribute to the deceased and remembering ancestors.
Speaking at the ceremony, Tanzania's Minister of Home Affairs Patrobas Katambi hailed the TAZARA railway as "a living testament to South-South cooperation" and a symbol of the enduring friendship between Tanzania and China.
He emphasized the need to safeguard and modernize the railway as part of its revitalization agenda.
Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Chen Mingjian noted that more than 50,000 Chinese workers participated in the railway's construction in the 1970s, with 70 losing their lives in the process.
"They are heroes who built a monument of China-Tanzania and China-Africa friendship," she said.
Also at the ceremony, Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority Managing Director Bruno Ching'andu and Tanzania's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation James Kinyasi Millya expressed gratitude to China, praising the traditional friendship between the two countries. ■