The turtle's shell would be preserved at the Viet Nam Nature Museum, the committee said.
Vu Van Hien of Lang Giang District in the northern Bac Giang Province was one of the first to discover the turtle's death. On seeing the turtle floating in the water in one corner of Hoan Kiem Lake in Le Thai To Street yesterday afternoon, Hien called Hoan Kiem Lake Management Division's hotline to report the incident.
The People's Committee then ordered the Ha Noi's Department of Information and Culture and Hoan Kiem District's People's Committee to send employees to the site to investigate the incident.
The authorities and experts such as professor and turtle expert Ha Dinh Duc reached the scene and took the turtle's body to Ngoc Son Temple, located in a small island in the northern part of Hoan Kiem Lake, staff member of the temple Nguyen Duc Vuong said.
The death of the turtle was attributed to old age and the recent bad weather, the committee said.
In 2011, scientists had treated the turtle for injuries and diseases.
Duc said the turtle belonged to a very rare and valuable species. Besides the one in Hoan Kiem Lake, there are just three more of this kind in the world, with one being in Son Tay Town, Ha Noi, while the other two are in Shanghai, China.
