We have studied the two reactions 12C(π+,pp) and 12C(π+,ppp) in one experiment, using the CHAOS spectrometer at TRIUMF, at incident pion energies of 200, 240, and 280 MeV. In both cases, we are able to distinguish between reaction mechanisms involving only the detected protons, and those in which additional nucleons must have participated, on the basis of missing momentum. In the case of 12C(π+,ppp), we identify events due to the two step process of π+p quasielastic scattering followed by two-nucleon absorption. Estimates are made for the total cross sections for the various absorption mechanisms.
