Bodies of drowned Albanians discovered

Police in the Hungarian town of Szeged say that they have recovered the bodies of men and women believed to be among the Kosovo Albanians who drowned in the Tisa River.

(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, October 23, 2009

Police confirmed that they had found the body of an unidentified male in the Tisa, and that they assume that he was one of the people whose boat capsized while trying to illegally cross the border to Hungary.

Kosovo media say that Pristina has yet to receive detailed information on these activities from Budapest.

Kosovo police stated on Thursday that the Interpol office in Hungary had asked the Kosovo police to confirm the identities of the individuals who could be tied to the case.

Hungarian Interpol has begun an investigation into the 15 Kosovo Albanians that drowned in the Tisa on the border between Serbia and Hungary, according to Pristina media.

Kosovo police spokesman Baqi Kelani confirmed that Interpol was inquiring about six people, but that the Kosovo police would not take any steps until they received an official request from the Hungarian government.

According to the media, the only known survivor of the tragedy is named Agron Rama.

Rama said that he was able to save his two children after the boat capsized, but was unable to save his wife.

He is currently not available for comment because he is in prison for trying to cross the border illegally.

Zeri states that Rama made contact with the family of one of the deceased, who said that he wanted to live abroad and had found a way out of Kosovo.

"He contacted a man and left. He called me once from Serbia and I haven't heard from him since," the family member said.