Remains of 12 people identified in Vukovar

On Monday, the remains of 12 people who went missing or were killed in 1991 were identified at the National Memorial Hospital "Dr. Juraj Njavro" in Vukovar, including eight Croatian veterans and four civilian victims. The victims are aged between 32 and 64.

'Twelve families have found their peace'

“Twelve families have found their peace. These are eight Croatian veterans and four civilians, one of whom is a woman. Four people are from individual graves, and eight from the Petrovačka dola mass grave,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Croatian Veterans Tomo Medved, who attended the identification.

He pointed out that this is the most demanding and longest-researched mass grave location. In 570 working days, more than 110,000 square meters of waste were excavated, inspected and exported, and a mountain of asbestos was to be removed.

“After two full years of daily tireless and dedicated work in the field, more than 2,000 fragmented bone parts were found under a pile of waste, including animal bones, on about 400 square meters, which were then carefully exhumed so that no bones remained, and the exhumation itself lasted almost two months,” said Medved.

He added that due to the complexity of the exhumations, the identification process is also extremely demanding and time-consuming.

He announced that the Ministry of Croatian Veterans will contact other families for whom there is a match in the DNA findings; about at least 10 more people whose remains were exhumed from the mass grave on Petrovačka Dola.

“After more than 30 years of searching, waiting, anxiety and uncertainty, we will enable you, dear families, to finally learn the truth about the fate of your loved ones, to bury them with dignity, to have a place where you can light a candle and pray, a place where they, but also where you as a family, will find your peace,” said Minister Medved.

Turudić also at the meeting with families

“Our mission is to find all the missing, provide them with a dignified resting place, and ensure peace for their families. This is a strong message of our commitment to finding and identifying all victims,” said Minister Medved after a conversation with the families of the identified persons, which was also attended by the Chief State Attorney Ivan Turudić.

Among the 12 families whose loved ones were identified was the president of the "Vukovar Mothers" Association, Manda Patko, who, after almost 34 years after the Homeland War, identified her husband Stjepan, who disappeared in November 1991 after he was taken from Velepromet in Vukovar.

“Now I will finally have a place where I can visit him and thank him for everything he did for our homeland. He was captured and taken from Velepromet to an unknown destination. I did not hope that he could be in Petrovačka dola, but here they found him. DNA analysis showed that it was him. He was shot,” she said shortly after the identification.

Croatia is searching for another 1,771 people

After today's identification, the Republic of Croatia is searching for 1,771 people missing in the Homeland War, among whom 480 are missing or killed in Vukovar-Srijem County, and 357 in the Vukovar area. Since October 2016, information has been collected about 477 possible locations of concealed graves and field research has been conducted at 418 locations, and about 997,000 m2 has been searched.

The most extensive field activities were carried out in Vukovar-Srijem County, where six mass graves were found, and more than 40 individual graves in Croatia. In that period, the remains of more than 200 people were exhumed, and 292 people were identified, including today's identification.

Source: HRT