As fighting continued the situation deteriorated as ammunition began running short and the decision was made to evacuate all personnel. At 1700 hours all communication equipment was destroyed. The survivors carried out their evacuation orders and destroyed all abandoned weapons and withdrew further to the north wall. Leading the evacuation effort were fifteen H-34 helicopters from HMM-163 supported by four UH-1B gunships of VMO-2. Panic-stricken South Vietnamese soldiers and civilians mobbed the evacuation helicopters and overwhelmed U.S. Special Forces troops as they abandoned the camp. This reached a point where the helicopters were so overloaded some Special Forces soldiers were forced to fire upon their allies to allow the helicopters to take off. Only 172 of 368 Nung and Vietnamese irregulars were flown out. The others were listed as MIA, although many would turn up later, having escaped on their own. The evacuation was further complicated by heavy enemy anti-aircraft fire, and two H-34s were lost.