POLICE EXCLUDES POSSIBILITY THAT SAT'S EXPLOSION IS ACT OF TERRORISM

VIROVITICA, Nov 15 (Hina) - Croatian police on Monday excluded a possibility that an explosion, which claimed lives of Austrian and Croatian hunters, was an act of terrorism. The incident occurred around two p.m. on Saturday, when the vehicle carrying the hunters drove over an anti-tank mine on a hunting ground in eastern Croatia. The blast claimed the lives of four Austrian citizens and two Croatians and another four hunters are injured. We dismissed a possibility that the anti-tank mine was planted after the Homeland War, head of the Virovitica-Podravina Police department Djuro Matovina told reporters Monday. He described the rescue of the injured hunters in details. The civil protection unit and a helicopter of Interior Ministry's special unit from Zagreb also participated in the rescue. Austrian hunter Gerhard Lenher, 31 will be discharged from the Bjelovar General Hospital on Tuesday, and will be treated in Austria. The health condition of the other three hunters is stabile, however, they are not yet prepared to travel. The killed hunters were identified in the Zagreb Forensic institute. The explosion claimed lives of Austrian citizens Johan Gerhinger, aged 60, Franz Scheitl, aged 39, Franc Hammerbacher, aged 64, and Franz Volger, aged 45, and Croats Zorica Runje, aged 39, and Marko Bartolovic, aged 56. Seriously wounded were Davorin Runje, aged 49, and Austrian citizens Gerhard Marx, aged 50, Gerhard Lehner, aged 31, and Fritz Gedinger, aged 34. They were taken to a hospital in Bjelovar. The area where the explosion occurred was cleared of mines in December 1991. There have been no incidents of this kind in the past eight years. (hina) it