P.O.W. Casualties Reported (Carroll Beeler)

Tass, the Soviet press agency, reported from Hanoi today that American air strikes over the North Vietnamese capital had inflicted casualties on Ameri can pilots held prisoner there.

A Tass correspondent, Alex ander Mineyev, said that raids “during three straight nights” had dropped bombs in the area of a prison camp.

“There were wounded among the prisoners,” Mr. Mineyev wrote. He did, not report the number of casualties. He quoted a camp official as saying the injured had been taken to a hospital for treatment.

Mr. Mineyev said that he and other correspondents accredited in Hanoi had visited the camp today and had spoken with two prisoners, Carroll Robert Beeler and James Phillip Padgett, who had told him that on the night of Oct. 19 several bombs had fallen near the camp.

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