Saturday, June 3, 1972
Red-Held Laos Town Hit By 'Mystery' Fire
VIENTIANE (AP) --A fire of unknown origin Tuesday night burned out "several blocks" of bamboo and wooden houses in the North Vietnamese-occupied provincial capital of Khong Sedone in southern Laos, informed sources said Thursday.A FAC (forward air controller) flying over the area Wednesday reported seeing a blackened section of town, but was unable to determine the extent of damage, sources said.Refugees leaving Khong Sedone Wednesday said North Vietnamese soldiers claimed that Laotian bombs started the fire, American sources said.None of the refugees, however, remembered seeing any planes over the town, sources said.There was speculation in Vientiane that North Vietnamese soldiers may have been burning government buildings in the town and that the fire may have got out of control.If so, it would be the first time North Vietnamese have razed any government buildings in Khong Sedone since they occupied the town two weeks ago, sources said."Red-Held Laos Town Hit by 'Mystery' Fire", by (AP), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Saturday, June 3, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.