Marion Drijber, Christine Sinclair

[ca. May 1973]

Salisbury, Rhodesia - A Rhodesian government spokesman said yesterday that Zambian troops fired across Victoria Falls gorge at tourists in Rhodesia, killing two Canadian girls and seriously wounding an American man. One of the girls tumbled into the river after being hit and her body was swept away. The spokesman said the troops fired for more than two hours Tuesday afternoon at the tourists visiting the falls, one of the world's greatest natural wonders. Rhodesia immediately protested the incident. Its formal note said it"protests in the strongest terms at this indiscriminate killing and maiming of innocent people.""We have irrefutable proof that Zambian troops and not Zambian-based guerrillas were responsible for the attack," a Rhodesian spokesman said. In Ottawa the Canadian External Affairs Department identified the dead girls as Christine Louise Sinclair, 20, Guelph, Ont., and Marion Iduma Drijber, 19, of Rockwood, Ont. It said it had received information that Miss Sinclair was killed instantly and Miss Drijber was hit by bullets and fell into the river. It said her body had not yet been found.