Entire Series of Endless Spectral Scenes

18 November 1991

There is no reason to wait for evacuation, as all that remains in Vukovar are civilians in shelters.  Siniše Glavašević reporting for the Chronicle of the Day

The marathon negotiations initiated yesterday which have had their alternating moments of success and failure are slowly drawing to a close to the great joy of fifteen thousand surviving adults and two thousand children.

The European Peace Mission has not entered the city, although this was expected of them, but, judging by recent phone calls with Mr Budisa, Mr Granic and Mr Tus, there is a realistic chance that evacuation will start tomorrow in the presence of the peacekeepers.

However, one should not forget earlier attempts at realising certain agreements, which were far more complex. Therefore, plagued by misgivings, we wait with mixed emotions for the further development of events and hope that we will see the convoy soon.

The picture of Vukovar at 22.00 hours on the 87th day will remain in the memories of those who witnessed it all for a long time to come.

Entire series of endless spectral scenes and the smell of burning.

Underfoot, the remains of bodies, building material, glass, debris, and an eerie silence.

At the same time, doctors at the hospital in Vukovar are facing grave difficulties. A large number of wounded, three hundred of whom are severely injured, and a further four hundred who are slightly more mobile, numerous civilians, who found shelter here, and terrible cases of wounding, like that of a five and-a-half-month-old baby, on whom Dr Tomislav Vlahovic operated this afternoon. Shrapnel had severely damaged the baby’s hip and thigh. A similar case is a four-year-old girl whose shoulder was crushed by a grenade.

We recently informed you on the death of a pregnant mother and her unborn baby. Civilisation cannot cope with the burden of cases such as these. Gas gangrene, so everyone here hopes, will never again sway over medicine.

I have just received information on the outcome of negotiations. The convoy will head out tomorrow at 10.00 hours and will be taking 600 patients. It will be travelling from the hospital in Vukovar, through Priljevo, Luzac, Bogdanovci, Marinci, Zidine and on to Nustar.

The civilian shelter at Borovo Naselje will also be contacted tomorrow, where there are around two hundred wounded and they will join the evacuation within the next days.

Let us hope that Vukovar’s agonies are over.