Norwegian reports ex-GIs may be on Viet road gang

A Norwegian construction worker says there are Americans, possibly servicemen missing in action, working as slave laborers in Vietnam. In an interview with Seattle radio station KIRO, Stein Gudding said he recently left a construction job on a paper mill north of Hanoi and claimed that some of his fellow workers came across a road gang of Americans while motorcycling in a rural area.

"They were definitely Westerners. They were Americans speaking English with American accents."

He said police told the Scandinavians to leave immediately and threatened them with weapons. But before they left, they heard the prisoners shout, "Tell the world about us!"

Mr. Gudding said many Vietnamese regularly talk about Americans still being held prisoner in their country.

In Washington, Rear Adm. Jerry Tuttle, who heads a team of MIA investigators, said the report was being treated as a "serious live sighting."