VILLAGE WRONGLY HIT

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31332, 31 March 1967, Page 11

VILLAGE WRONGLY HIT

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) SAIGON, Mar. 30. A rocket • firing United States Army helicopter accidentally hit a Vietnamese village with two rockets and killed or wounded 23 Vietnamese civilians, United States military headquarters said today. The rockets hit a fuel supply dump and set fire to near-

by huts, destroying 21 of them. Another 41 huts were destroyed to contain the blaze by making a fire-break. United States Headquarters said three civilians were killed and 20 were wounded in the incident yesterday at Sa Huynh village, 35 miles

south-east of the northern coastal city of Quang Ngal. Headquarters said the helicopter was on a firing mission in the vicinity of the village when two rockets fell short and hit the village. United States Headquarters reported only small and scat-

tered patrol skirmishes as the lull in ground fighting of the last few days continued. U.S. Air Force planes from Thailand bases struck at a storage area 27 miles northesat of Hanoi yesterday. Pilots reported two large secondary explosions, indicating hits on fuel or ammunition. Other pilots reported destroying 12 cargo barges and heavily damaging eight more of the 50ft craft in strikes near Dong Hoi. U.S. Navy pilots also attacked water craft in the Dong Hoi area, claiming destruction of six out of 10.