80 VICTIMS EXHUMED SO FAR FROM MASS GRAVES IN VUKOVAR CEMETERY

( Editorial: --> 0705 ) VUKOVAR, April 30 (Hina) - Teams from the Government Commission for Imprisoned and Missing Persons haved exhumed the remains of 80 victims from the first of 14 mass grave trenches at Vukovar's New Cemetery. The Commission says 1200 war victims are buried in the cemetery. They were killed or murdered during the Serb siege and capture of the eastern Croatian city of Vukovar in 1991. Commission president Leiutenant Colonel Ivan Grujic said the posthumous remains of 21 people were identified on Wednesday and another 20 victims up to 1pm on Thursday. Today a second trench was opened in which the victims were thrown on top of one another, which was different from the first where the bodies were placed alongside each another. This will make our exhumation work a little more difficult, Grujic said. He added that yesterday 11 instances of first aid were given to family members of exhumed victims who had arrived at the cemetery for identification. Today there were four such instances. Grujic said it was early to mention the nationality, age and sex of the people exhumed up to now, but it had been confirmed that an entire family was among the exhumed victims from the first trench. (Hina) jn mb 301656 MET apr 98