Khmer authorities are investigating unconfirmed reports that Vietnamese Communist forces occupying a village executed 300 people after the villagers had demonstrated against the Communist presence.

The people shown on film say they come from the village in question, Bos Khnnor (pronounced bo k-nor), north-east of Phnom Penh, which has been under Communist control for more than eighteen months.

They fled south and are now sheltering near a pagoda 108 kilometres north-east of the capital. Some of the womenfolk complained of feeling poorly and a Buddhist monk gave them the traditional cure of dousing them with water.

The refugees told the Khmers that the alleged massacre took place about the end of last September after the villagers had asked the Communists to leave Bos Khnnor.

Although Khmer authorities are still checking the story, it is known for certain that many people have fled the area in question in the past two-and-a-half weeks - as always in such cases, making the best of what they have available to eke out a living.