THREE MALE BODIES EXHUMED FROM WELL IN EASTERN CROATIA

ERDUT, Oct 22 (Hina) - Three bodies were exhumed on Thursday from a well of the Andrija Simek family house in Erdut, eastern Croatia. The exhumation was attended by members of the government's Commission for Detained and Missing Persons, Osijek-Baranja County police, international observers, and representatives of The Hague war crimes tribunal and the County Association of families of detained and missing Croatian defenders. The well is assumed to contain seven bodies, said Ivan Grujic, head of the government Commission. Today's exhumation is the 106th in Croatia and the most demanding, he said, adding the first 10m of the 40-50m-deep well was clogged with garbage and explosive device, which made the exhumation dangerous and difficult. The first bodies were discovered 20m into the well. Grujic said 20 civilians had been killed in Erdut during the Serbian aggression on Croatia, and that there were other mass graves in the town, although yet untraced. According to a Zagreb pathologist, Drinko Balicevic, the bodies exhumed today were male. He added the severely injured head bones indicated they had been thrown into the well headlong. To date 110 civilians and defenders have been exhumed in Osijek- Baranja County, including 80 who have been identified, while 176 are still listed as missing, said Stefica Krstic, president of the County Association of families of detained and missing defenders. The exhumation of the Erdut well is proceeding. (hina) ha