Vietnam will begin on Friday to carry out the death penalty by lethal injection instead of firing squad.

Legislators looking for a more humane method of carrying out the death penalty approved the change last year.

The government said lethal injection causes less pain for the condemned and reduces psychological pressure on the executioners.

The new law will also allow families to claim the bodies of the executed for burial.

Vietnamese authorities regard execution statistics to be a state secret, so no reliable numbers of those put to death are available.