The Michigan Daily-Friday, May 26, 1978-Page 9
American tells of terror
KINSHASA, Zaire (AP) - An
American who survived a week of
terror in Kolwezi, Zaire, says he and
more than a dozen other whites owe
their lives to Zairian soldiers who per-
suaded a mob to spare some of the
captives.
Rick Black, 42, a Zambia resident
originally from Los Angeles, said he,
his girlfriend Jenny, and other whites
were saved by a contingent of cap-
tured Zairian soldiers who had spent
several days with them in a Kolwezi
police station.
BLACK TOLD his story Wednesday
at Kinshasa airport, before he boar-
ded an airplane leaving the coun-
try-oneof hundreds of Europeans
and Americans rescued by French
and Belgian soldiers after being
caught in an attack by Katanganese
rebels against Zaire's mineral-rich
Shaba Province.
Black said the Zairians performed
the rescue on May 17, when a mob
stormed the police station in apparent
anger over the arrival of French
paratroopers.
He said, "Jenny was last inside and
before we could close the door she had
been grabbed by one arm and I said,
'Oh, my God, no,' and grabbed her
arm and pulled her away and closed
the door behind her."
BLACK SAID the Zairian soldiers
donned civilian clothes and persuaded
the mob to leave. French
paratroopers eventually freed the
group.
Black said that on Saturday, May
13, the day the rebels stormed the
city, he, Jenny and several other
whites bid in the wine cellar of their
hotel.
m an agnostic,
but in there I said if
there's a man up
there, baby, he'll
help us. "
-Rick Black,
Zambia resident
he'll help us."
Finally, Monday afternoon the
group decided to make contact with
rebels, they were taken to a police
station in the black section of town
where 30 Zairian troops and 12 other
whites were being held.
He said one rebel had a list of
Gecamines copper mine employees
and released five whites who were on
it.
OTHER CAPTIVES have said the
rebels expressed a desire to reopen
the mines under their administration.
On Tuesday, Black said, several
more whites left. Then on Wed-
nesday-the day of the murder of
more than 30 whites atta Zairian army
command post-several bloodsoaked
and hysterical survivors were
brought to the police station.
Black said the rebels were kind to
the children and fed the captived, but
the terror resumed on Friday mor-
ning when French paratroopers
arrived on their rescue mission,
"AT MIDDAY, the one remaining
rebel guard disappeared but we were
afraid to leave," Black said. "At 4, we
saw parachutists coming into the city.
"Shorltly after, a large number of
blacks came screaming and yelling
and we thought they were rejoicing
that the rebels had gone.
"But as they came nearer we heard
them shouting, 'We're free, we're
free, long live the Tigers,' " the name
used by the rebels.
Foreign
aid bill
approved
WASHINGTON (AP)-The House
Appropriations Committee, approving
a $7.3 billion foreign aid bill yesterday,
said more money should go to
lowshares and simple tools that peasan-
ts can really use.
"The only hope of ever ameliorating
world poverty is to adopt a totally fresh
approach to development assistance,"
the committee said ina report.
"That new approach is to harness the
vast reserves of idle labor time which
exists in all developing nations," it ad-
ded.
The report urged all U.S. foreign aid
agencies to put more emphasis on' sup-
plying simple tools to peasants around
the world such as "animal drawn plows
and seeders, five to ten horsepower
tillers, small grain threshers and
driers."
Through a ventilation strip they
watched the rebels take other guests
away and loot the hotel. The rebels
tried to break into the cellar several
times, but Black barricaded the door
with wine cases.
"I AM AN AGNOSTIC, but in there I
said if there's a man up there, baby,
HELICOPTER HIJACKER KILLED:
Pilot averts prison breakout
DISCO
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MARION, Ill. (AP) - A woman
hijacked a helicopter Wednesday night
in an apparent attempt to help three
inmates escape from the Marion
Federal Penitentiary, but she was shot
and killed by the pilot during the flight
from St. Louis, authorities said.
Ron Beai, a spokesman at the prison,
said the pilot wrested a handgun from
the woman, and "while he removed the
weapon she reached for another han-
dgun and the pilot shot her," he said.
BEAI SAID the woman was shot two
or three times.
He said the shooting occurred in the
air "three to five miles from our
penitentiary." The pilot then flew the
craft to the prison, outside the 70 acres
ringed by barbed wire. '
The prison, seven miles south of
Marion in Williamson County in
southern Illinois, houses 500 of the
nation's most dangerous federal con-
victs.
BEAI SAID three prisoners were
suspects in the escape effort but he
declined to name them.
He said the woman, who reportedly
was middle-aged, rented the helicopter
in St. Louis, 120 miles to the northwest,
and said she wanted to fly to Cape
Girardeau, Mo., 35 miles southwest of
i
Marion.
She told the pilot about 30 minutes af-
ter takeoff that "he was to fly the copter
to Marion, Ill., to effect the escape of
three inmates," Beai said.
THE SHOOTING occurred about 6:30
p.m.
The pilot, who was unhurt, was Allen
Barklage, an employee of Fostaire
Helicopter in St. Louis, the company
said.
FBI supervisor Emmett Schmitt in
Springfield confirmed the incident at
Marion and said the pilot had left with
his helicopter after being-questioned to
return to St. Louis. "He has been inter-
viewed and we are not holding him,"
Schmitt said.
Beai said no guards were involved in
the shooting, but added that it is "ab-
normal" for helicopters to be flying
near-the prison, and said, "I am con-
fident that the officers on duty would
have been aware that a helicopter was
in the area."
In June 1975, Otto Remling, who had
been convicted on theft and bad-check
charges, escaped from Southern
Michigan Prison at Jackson by helicop-
ter. An accomplice had hijacked the
helicopter at knifepoint, set it down in
the prison yard and picked up Remling.
Remling was caught 30 hours later in a
bar 13 miles from the prison.
He told the arresting state trooper
that he got the escape idea from the
movie "Breakout," starring Charles
Bronson.
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