Wednesday, June 7, 1972
Rocket Hits Cambodian Defense Ministry
PHNOM PENH (UPI) --A 122mm Russian-made rocket crashed into Phnom Penh's Defense Ministry and another shell hit a residential area about 75 yards from Marshal Lon Nol's house Monday afternoon, a few hours after it became clear that the marshal had won the country's first presidential election.Police Chief Chea Kim Eng said three persons were killed and three seriously wounded at the Defense Ministry. "Three others were lightly wounded," the police chief said.The second missile, believed to have been a 75mm recoilless rifle shell, killed three children, wounded another and slightly injured a housemaid. Two of the dead children were those of an army lieutenant, and the other the child of former congressman Tan In Theng. All were playing in the yard outside their house at the time the shell exploded.A second 122mm rocket crashed into a playing field near the Defense Ministry, but caused no casualties.Minutes after the rockets exploded at 3:05 p.m., police chased and captured a Volkswagen minibus laden with grenades and various sorts of wiring.It was the first time a rocket had hit Phnom Penh in daylight, and the capital's residents immediately started talking of rumors which circulated before Sunday's elections that "if Lon Nol wins, 1,000 rockets will fall on Phnom Penh."The police chief said three persons had been driving the Volkswagen bus, outfitted with pink window curtains."The three escaped. One of them was carrying a B40 rocket grenade launcher," Eng said. He said they also captured an escort motorcycle but the rider got away.The Volkswagen was held in police headquarters for inspection by bomb experts.Journalists witnessing the Defense Ministry explosion saw columns of debris shoot into the sky. People rushing from the building said the rocket hit the quartermaster's section, and that one of the dead was a girl.Military police also said they had found two grenades under sacks of produce in one of Phnom Penh's markets. The weapons were unexploded, the police said.Monday's explosions were a marked contrast to Sunday, election day, which passes without incident in the Cambodian capital.At midday, the government announced that incumbent President Lon Nol had 58 per cent of the country's votes by preliminary count, enough to give him a clear majority. The results from two other provinces were still outstanding, and the results in hand were termed provisional.Contesting the presidency was former National Assembly President In Tam, and Keo An, former dean of Phnom Penh's law faculty.In Tam, who polled 23 per cent of the provisional vote, and Keo An, who polled a surprisingly high 18 per cent with his promise that he would being exiled Prince Norodom Sihanouk back to Cambodia, met Monday morning.Both losers declared they would appeal to the Constitutional Court charging that a rerun should be held because of "gross election fraud."Phnom Penh's civilian vote was heavily in favor of In Tam, according to government sources, but the military vote gave Lon Nol the majority he needed to win.Under Cambodia's new constitution, which gives heavy powers to the president, the winner of the elections must gain 50 per cent. The constitution also states that if a rerun is to be held, it must be held within seven days.On the military front, the high command reported the situation "relatively quiet" with intense fighting continuing for the fourth day at two government positions 33 miles south of Phnom Penh on Highway 3.Elsewhere, including around Phnom Penh's outer defense perimeter, light harassing actions were reported, but no casualty figures were available.In the rocketing Phnom Penh, observers theorized that the rockets had been launched from a fragile metal ramp on top of the captured minibus. However, police and demolitions experts said they thought it "unlikely that the roof of the vehicle could withstand the weight and push of a 122mm rocket."Two cans of kerosene and at least five grenades were found in the Volkswagen."Rocket Hits Cambodian Defense Ministry", by (UPI), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes Wednesday, June 7, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Stripes.