POISON GAS ATTACKS AGAINST HMONG REFUGEES

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06156949
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: September 26, 2017
• Case Number: F-2012-01432
• Publication Date: February 13, 1980

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DOMESTIC COLLECTION DIVISION
Foreign Intelligence Information Report
WARNING NOTICE- - INTELLIGENCE SOURCES AND METHODS INVOLVED
DIRMTORATI OF
Orli/MONS
STATE DIA NSA TREAS OCR
FURTHER DISSEMINATION AND USE OF THIS INFORMATION SUBJECT TO CONTROLS
STATED AT BEGINNING AND END OF REPORT PAGE I OF 1 PAGES
THIS IS AN INFORMATION REPORT, NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTEUJGENCE
REPORT CLASS. CONF I/E N T IA L--WNINTEL REPORT NO.
COUNTRY Laos
SUBJECT
SOURCE
Poison Gas Attacks
Against Hmong Refugees
DATE DISTR.
REFERENCES
SUPPLEMENT TO:
13 FEB mio
2. The statement is unclassified when separated from the
covering report.
REPORT CLASSCONFIDEN
cnuRrrs AND METHODS INVOLVED
ALL PORTIONS CARRY CLASSIFICATIO AND
CONTROLS OF OVERALL DOCUMENT.
--WARNING NOTICE - INTELLIGENCE
4702245
CONFI VENTIAL
ClauHkatio
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tituceesot.int)
A) How was your generol health prior to this incident? Good.
8) Where were you when it happened? All attacks occurred at the
confluence of two small streams named Nam Theng and Nam Ka in
the southern Laotian highlands.
C) When did it happen? February 1978.
Time of Day? Two attacks occurred early in the morning, approxi-
mately 0800-0900; one other attack took place at about 1300.
Weather? Clear for all three attacks.
0) How many other people/animals were with you? About 5 thousand
people, including children; there were no animals.
E) Were the people/animals with you affected? Over 200 people were
affected.
All? Wherever the poison dropped, people were affected.
Some? (See above)
A few? "
No other? "
F) Were all those affected, affected at the same time? Yes.
G) What did you see? Airplanes fired rockets which burst on impact
with red smoke. The poison in the red smoke made one's eyes
turn yellow and see stars. The effects of the poison lasted two
to three days.
H) What did you hear? Only the sound of the airplane and the noise
of the rockets' flight, followed by the explosion of the rockets
upon impact with the ground. Hearing was affected by the poison
gas; there was a loss of acuity which lasted about five days if
medicine was taken. If no medicine was taken, the loss of acuity
persisted for about two weeks.
I) What did you feel? There was no effect on the sense of touch.
J) What did you smell? There was a bitter smell, an acrid odor,
when the gas came.
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K) Did it affect your nose? Yes; it made the nose stuffy.
What did it smell like? The gas had an acrid, bitter odor.
Did your nose tingle? YeE; it tingled as if pepper had been inhaled.
Did it hurt to breathe through your nose? Yes.
Did your nose itch? No.
Did your nose run freely? Yes, a lot.
L) Did it affect your eyes? Yes; my eyes turned yellow as if I had
jaundice, and my vision became blurred.
Did your eyes hurt? No.
Did it take you cry? Yes, a lot.
Did it feel like sand in your eyes? No. It did cause you to have
a crusty mucous in the corncrs of your eyes. Your eyes felt warm,
and hot.
Were your eyelids swollen? Yes.
Did you lose your vision? No.
Was your vision blurred? Yes.
Did you have a headache? Yes; the headache lasted two or three days.
Did your eyes turn red? Yes, like when you get drunk.
M) Did it affect your throat? Yes.
Did your throat hurt? Yes, but not like a sore throat--it felt hot
in the throat, there was pain but it was not swollen. IL- hurt to
swallow.
Did you cough? No.
Did you become hoarse? Yes.
Did you lose your voice? Only those most seriously affected lost
their voice. I did not.
Did you have to spit a great deal? Yes; I salivated much, but my
throat was dry.
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N) Did it affect your chest? Yes; my chest felt warm.
Did it hurt to breathe? Yes; it felt like a knife in the ribs.
Was it hard to breathe? Yes; there was a shortness of breath.
Did it hurt deep in your chest? Yes.
Did it feel like your chest was beiv6 croshed? Yes..
How did your heat beat? Very fast.
0) Did it affect your stomach? Yes, but there was no vomiting.
Was your stomach upset? Yes.
Did you belch? No.
Did you vomit? No.
Did you have diarrhea? Yes; there was severe dysentery, lasting
about five or six days.
P) Did it affect your bare skin? There was an affect on the skin.
Q) Did it affect your sleep? Yes.
Did you lose sleep? Yes.
Did you have disturbed sleep? Only in that the gas caused you to
worry about the poison and its effects.
Were you able to sleep? Yes, about one-third of the normal amount.
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