The remains of the victims of the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia were found at the construction site of the hydropower plant in Buk Bijela, nine kilometres upstream from the town of Foca, the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina (MPI BiH) confirmed for BIRN.

MPI Spokesperson, Emza Fazlic, told BIRN that the remains were found by workers at the construction site of the hydroelectric power plant.

She said the skeletal remains were found by chance when the excavator dug up human bones.

“An investigator from the Institute for Missing Persons was immediately sent to this place to check these claims and see what exactly it is about,” she said, adding that more details will be known after this.

According to initial information, a jawbone was found, most likely of human origin, after which police officers arrived at the location until the arrival of the MPI investigators.

Midheta Kaloper-Oruli, representative of the Association of War Victims “Foca 92-95” announced a visit to this area for Friday.
According to data from the IMP BiH, the remains of 43 victims were found in Buk Bijela in 2006.

In May 2021, the construction of a hydroelectric power plant kicked off at the site. The plant is being built jointly by Serbia and Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity.

The construction started despite all the efforts of the “Foca 92-95” victims’ association to stop the project until a detailed survey of the terrain is carried out. The association argued that there are reasonable suspicions that there are still remains of missing persons at the Buk Bijela site.

The search for the remains of more than 600 people is still ongoing in the area of Foca.