Ministers Narrowly Escape Being Bombed Ostend, May 17.
Since yesterday the seat of the Belgian Government is at Ostend, the Ministers leaving Brussels in agreement with the High Command. The official cars which bore the Ministers narrowly escaped being attacked by German planes, which bombed and machine-gunned several cars preceding them loaded with refugees, The Government has been established at a point near Ostend and wis followed by several diplomatic missions particularly those of Argentine, Peru and Yugoslavia. The Spanish Ambassador and his staff are also in the Ostend region.
The Papal Nuncio, the United States Ambassador and the Italian Ambassador are still in Brussels.
The official General Staff communique released here at noon today states that in connection with the operations engaged by the Allied forces and in close cooperation wita them, Belgian troops have withdrawn io new positions in calm and good order.
"Despite the many and hard fights in which most of the units took part since the beginning of the hostilities, our army remains intact and its moral is good," the communique added.—
Havas, (Further Belgian war news will be found on page 11).
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.