Found: 41 bodies buried in Civil War mass grave 06/09/2006 00:00

6 September 2006

MADRID —  The remains of 41 people who were shot and their bodies dumped in a mass grave during the Civil War have been found, it emerged on Wednesday.

The skeletons were discovered by experts in a cereal field near Burgos in northern Spain.

The Spanish daily El Pais reported the victims were all civilians who were shot by a firing squad thought to be loyal to the Republican government.

They are starting to identify the bodies by consulting relatives and locals and by checking anatomical details.

Professor Francisco Exteberria, from the Basque University school of medicine who led the investigation, said: "The majority were humble people, country folk and bricklayers, who were shot for being left-wing."

Twenty anthropologists, archaeologists and forensic scientists believe they may find the remains of another 40 more victims in mass graves nearby.

Relatives of those who disappeared during the Civil War and afterwards have been uncovering mass graves for the past five years.

They have so far discovered about 300.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news