MANILA, Philippines -- Madame Nguyen Cao Ky, wife of the former South Vietnamese premier, reportedly attempted suicide and was resting today in a government guesthouse.
Presidential palace sources, who asked not to be identified, said Mrs. Ky, 41, was taken to the 'Coconut Palace' government guest house with Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos.
The former Vietnam Airline stewardess -- one of the most powerful women in Vietnam before the fall of Saigon in 1975 -- was found unconscious in her room at the plush Manila Hotel on Thursday, the Bulletin Today newspaper reported.
The newspaper quoted hospital sources as saying Madame Ky had taken a 'considerable dosage of valium.' A hotel spokesman confirmed that she checked out Thursday after arriving alone and unannounced March 15.
The whereabouts of Nguyen Cao Ky, a former air force general who became premier of South Vietnam following a 1965 coup and was elected vice president in 1967, was not immediately known.
The incident came 10 years after the last American ground troops were pulled out of South Vietnam March 29, 1973.
A guard at the Manila Medical Center said Mrs. Ky left the hospital early today. Hospital and government officials, however, would not comment on reports she was hospitalized there following the suicide attempt.
A motorcade including an ambulance and at least two limousines arrived at the downtown Coconut Palace later in the day. The first lady's motorcade often includes an ambulance 'in case of emergencies,' a police guard said.
Guards said Mrs. Marcos had taken a visitor to the guesthouse, apparently Mrs. Ky.
Palace sources said Mrs. Ky was expected to recuperate at the palace until she was strong enough to return to her home in Los Angeles.
Mrs. Ky has lived in California since 1975, when she and her husband fled Vietnam shortly before the U.S.-backed Saigon government fell to communist forces in April 1975.
Ky later owned a liquor store in Huntington Beach, Calif., but sold it in 1981 to spend his time meeting with Vietnamese refugees.
During her two-week stay in the Philippines, Mrs. Ky had visited a Vietnamese refugee camp at Morong, 45 miles west of Manila, before the incident last Thursday.
