| The grave is in an area
known as Crni Vrh, or Black Peak. It's mountainous country, just
a few kilometres from the border with Serbia; dense
woodland surrounds the site.
It used to be an old front line
and the ground is still laced with mines.
No one is sure how many people are buried but it could be as many
as seven-hundred, making it more than twice as large as any mass
grave so far found in Bosnia.
They are thought to be victims of the Srebrenica massacre, when
seven-thousand Muslims were killed by Bosnian Serb forces in July
1995. The bodies were dumped in
numerous graves across the region, and every year more of these
sites are discovered.
Weeks of painstaking work lie
ahead before forensic experts establish
just how many people are buried and then begin the difficult task
of identifying them. But this is just the tip
of an iceberg. There are still around twenty-thousand people
missing from the Bosnian war.
The head of the Bosnian Commission for Missing Persons, Amor
Masovic, says the discovery of every new grave helps relatives
finally come to terms with what
happened to their loved ones.
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dense woodland: thick forest
front line: a place where two armies are fighting each
other still laced with mines: with
some mines still dangerously present
mass grave: a grave in which a
large number of bodies have been hurriedly buried
dumped: placed quickly and carelessly
painstaking: extremely thorough
forensic experts: people who
examine objects scientifically in order to discover information
about a crime
tip of an iceberg: just the start
of something much bigger
come to terms with: learn to accept
loved ones: used to refer to
members of family or people cared about when something unpleasant
or dangerous has happened to them
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