Vietnam’s President Tran Dai Quang has died at the age of 61 on Friday at 10:05 (06:05 Moscow time) in Military Central Hospital 108, said Nguyen Quoc Trieu, head of the healthcare division of central officials.

"The president had been combating a grave illness. However, despite all the efforts of the leading domestic and foreign physicians, he failed to recover," Vietnam’s healthcare division of central officials said in the report.

Tran Dai Quang, who had earlier served as Vietnamese Minister of Public Security, became president in 2016, replacing Truong Tan Sang, aged 67, who had served as president since 2011. Tran Dai Quang’s candidacy was supported by 91% of members of the National Assembly (one-chamber parliament), which is the supreme government body in the country under the Constitution.