Bridge linking Hanoi pounded

Saigon: United States Air Force jets today bombed the Hanoi rail and highway bridge, four miles north of the centre of the North Vietnamese Capital, a US military spokesman reported.

The spokesman said the bridge is the only route into Hanoi for rail traffic from the north.

Flights of F-105 Thunderchiefs fighterbombers from bases in Thailand swept through heavy anti-aircraft and missile fire to blast the bridge which crosses the canal Des Rapides, the main waterway between Hanoi and the Port of Hai Phong.

The spokesman said they encountered MIG fighter interceptors but there were so far no reports of planes lost on either side.

In another raid this afternoon, Thunderchiefs from Korat, Thailand, struck the Hanoi transformer site, seven miles from the Capital, for the second straight day.

Here too pilots reported heavy opposition from ground gunners, surfaceto-air missiles and MIGs.

The spokesman said the Hanoi rail and highway bridge was 738-feet long. The five-span steel and concrete bridge is the only highway bridge leading north from Hanoi and carries the only rail track north from the Capital.

Today’s raid follows yesterday’s attack on Hanoi’s main railway repair yard which was the closest ever made to the centre of the North Vietnamese Capital.