REMAINS OF MORE THAN 57 CIVILIANS EXHUMED IN MASS GRAVE IN LOVAS

VUKOVAR, June 6 (Hina) - The remains of "more than 57 civilians" were discovered to date in a mass grave in Lovas (UN-administered part of Croatia), the head of the Croatian Government's Commission for Imprisoned and Missing Persons, Lieutenant Ivan Grujic, and John Gerns, from The Hague war crimes tribunal forensics, told a press conference in Vukovar on Friday. They supposed expectations that there were 68 victims buried in the grave would prove right. Findings to date showed that some of the exhumed remains were the remains of victims believed to have been buried in the mass grave, Grujic said. Files unavailable for six years from the municipal branch office in Lovas were submitted to the Government's Commission and confirmed that the mass grave contained 68 victims killed between 10 and 18 October 1991, after the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and paramilitary Serb units had occupied Lovas on 10 October 1991, Grujic said. He recalled that a total of 80 Croats were killed in the Lovas area during the occupation. The mass grave in Lovas was 35.5-metres-long and 80-centimetre- wide, Grujic explained, adding that the bodies had been put in one by the other with no order whatsoever. The first remains were uncovered 50 centimetres from the ground, he added. Wrist watches, identification and other documents were found near some victims, Grujic said, assessing as significant the fact that white bands were found on the sleeves of "numerous victims". Grujic thanked UNTAES for the assistance in the Lovas exhumation, adding that it could be completed within two days. The final findings would be made known by UNTAES, the transitional administration's spokesman, Philip Arnold said. The victims would be identified at the Forensic Medicine and Crime Investigation Bureau at Zagreb's Faculty of Medicine. (hina) ha jn 061742 MET jun 97