GIRL ATTEMPTS TO STRIKE MRS KY

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31277, 25 January 1967, Page 1

GIRL ATTEMPTS TO STRIKE MRS KY

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, January 24. A teen-age girl tried to strike Mrs Ky with a bamboo cane when the Vietnamese First Lady arrived at her Auckland hotel with her husband, Air Vice-Marshal Ky, tonight.

The couple were met by a screaming crowd of 400 at the entrance to the hotel on their arrival from Wellington.

As Air Vice-Marshal Ky and his wife stepped from their car a teen-age girl squirmed through the cordon of police and struck at Mrs Ky with a bamboo cane about two feet in length.

A detective grabbed the girl and threw her to the ground before she could reach Mrs Ky. Within seconds the hotel entrance was a battlefield as a solid phalanx of 50 police charged into the demonstrators.

The Kys were ushered inside the hotel unhurt. Ink Thrown

One of their party was struck by an ink-missile which splattered his suit.

The girl escaped into the swirling crowd. The scene was witnessed by several hundred bystanders who gave the organised group of demonstrators a wide berth. One witness said the area outside the hotel was “like a pitched battle” as police and demonstrators struggled around the Kys. Cleared Area

After the Vietnamese party was safely inside, the police cleared the area in a 15minute struggle. About 60 uniformed police and a dozen detectives linked arms and pushed the banner-waving demonstrators slowly back. The mob, mostly young people, hurled abuse at the police and chanted .“Sieg Heil” in unison.