Communists take Bao Loc, Hoi An

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33804, 29 March 1975, Page 15

Communists take Bao Loc, Hoi An

'X.Z Press Ass-Jianoe—Cop;,— SAIGON. March 28. Communist infantry, supported by a heav\ artillery barrage, today overran the provincial capital of Bao Loc. 96 miles north-east of Saigon, after more than two hours of fighting, bringing more than half of South Vietnam under Viet Cong or North Vietnamese control.

I he fall of Bao l oc leaves the Communists in control of the province of Lam Dong, the twelfth of South Vietnam’s 44 provinces to be captured by them.

Lam Dong, which has a population of 76.693. is at the southern edge of the embattled Central Highlands.

Only 15 miles from Da Nang Airport where 100,000 panic - stricken refugees ran riot, other Communist forces overran Hoi An, a city of 50.000 people, leaving Da Nang, the country’s second-largest city wide open to attack from the south.

In Da Nang, soldiers without money for food are reported to have clashed with the police in a series of gunbattles. The soldiers had arrived penniless after retreating from northern provinces abandoned by the Government.

A huge swami of panicstricken refugees mobbed the runway of Da Nang’s airport today, forcing a halt to the United States and South Vietnamese evacuation flights to sanctuaries in the south.

Officials say that as many as 100,000 people broke through a cordon of troops and raced across the airport in the hope of being taken from Da Nang, the GovernIment’s last stronghold in northern South Vietnam. Infantry troops tried without [success to control the crowd, [calling in tanks when the situation got out of hand.

World Airways, an American charter airline flying the (refugees out of Da Nang, has called off its Boeing 727 flights until the Government can restore order, and Air Vietnam has also cancelled its flights.

General’s visit In Saigon, General Frederick Weyand, the United States Army Chief-of-Staff,' conferred with President Thieu at the start of a factfinding mission. General Weyand, the last United States combat commander in South Vietnam, arrived in Saigon yesterday for up to four days of talks with United States and South Vietnamese officials. President Thieu, who angered many of his generals by ordering troop withdrawals, was fighting for his political life in the face of increasing calls for his resignation.

The former Prime Minister. General Nguyen Cao Ky—the flamboyant Air Force general who put Thieu in power 10 years ago — called on the President to step down this autumn at the end of his term.

Genera! Ky, speaking at a news conference yesterday, threw his support behind an Oppositon coalition demanding Thieu’s resignation. “A new Government that can be trusted by the people and the soldiers should be formed.” he said.

Yesterdav, Viet Cong

troops overran Tam Quan, a district capital in central Binh Dinh province. Sixty-six of the nation's 206 district capitals are now under Communist control.

Government forces reported turning back a tankled North Vietnamese assault yesterday on Chon Thanh, a district town 40 miles north of Saigon.