ANKARA (AFP) - A gas explosion caused a coal mine in western Turkey to collapse yesterday, trapping 17 workers deep underground, a local official told the national news agency Anatolia. Two people were rescued slightly injured from the state-run mine near Gediz, in the province of Kutahya, Gediz Deputy Governor Ali Nazim Balcioglu said. The 17 workers were trapped in a gallery about 300 meters (985 feet) underground, he said. Local rescuers were working to save the miners, while two specialized search-and-rescue teams were on their way to join the effort, he said.

SARAJEVO (AFP) - Bosnian forensic experts have found some 35 bodies believed to be Muslims killed in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, an official said yesterday. «On the ground near Srebrenica we found remains which we believe account for 35 people,» a member of Bosnia's Muslim-led commission for missing people, Sadik Halilovic, told AFP. The remains are believed to be of Muslims killed by Bosnian-Serb forces in 1995 as they attempted to escape the eastern town of Srebrenica.

Hundreds of homes were flooded and dozens of livestock drowned in a village in eastern Serbia yesterday after the river Tamis burst its banks overnight, witnesses said. The flooding, which is threatening to spread to other villages, was thought to be the worst in the area in 40 years. Most of the 3,000 residents of Jasa Tomic fled to nearby towns, but some stayed behind to help the army dig a ditch to channel the water back into the river. (Reuters)

Three Romanians have been detained after police discovered 13.1 kilograms (28.9 pounds) of heroin in their car, authorities said yesterday. The three suspects, who were not identified by name, were stopped late Wednesday near the southwestern city of Baile Herculane as they were driving toward the capital, police said in a statement. (AP)

Local police surrounded the home of Kosovo's president and blocked surrounding roads, preventing anyone from entering the neighborhood, officials said yesterday. Kosovo's police said the operation late Wednesday at President Ibrahim Rugova's home in a Pristina suburb was «a routine control,» but declined to give details. (AP)