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The horror on the Bistrica bridge April 13, 1999
The terrible scene witnessed by about a hundred foreign and domestic reporters at the one-century old railway bridge spanning the Zapadna Morava river, reflects the insanity and true intentions of those who ordered and those who committed this atrocity. Two demolished, fire-consumed carriages were smoldering on one end of the damaged bridge. Only six hours earlier, at Monday noon, they had probably been full of worried people, absorbed in thoughts.
Some of them were probably returning home from a visit to relatives during Easter holidays, others from a weekend rest. A father was on his way to see his son, serving his term in the army in Bujanovac. There were also foreign nationals travelling to neighboring which they believed to be 'safe.' A bloodthirsty pilot of a NATO aircraft cut their journey short forever at 11.55 a.m. He cold-bloodedly fired the first two missiles on the concrete overpass on the Belgrade-Skopje highway, above the railway line.
In a repeated attack, a few minutes later, the pilot spotted a much more important target not far from the first one - a four-carriage train helplessly standing on the Bistrica bridge because of a power-supply cut. The next two deadly missiles were deliberately and with precision aimed at the two middle carriages. The missiles immediately turned the passengers to ashes sending mangled remains of the train and the bridge flying some hundred meters away. A field beside the railway line was showered with parts of dismembered human bodies, the train and missiles. The victims of the bloodthirsty enemy will not be easy to count as they were turned to ashes or carried away by the river. But the monstrosity of a crime is not measured by the number of victims.
A crime is always a crime.
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