NATO bombs whitegoods factory
CACAK, Yugoslavia, April 1 (AFP) - Two nights of NATO airstrikes have left an
electrical
appliance factory at this town south of Belgrade, virtually in ruins, an AFP
correspondent
who visited the site said.
A score of hangars and other buildings in the Sloboda factory complex at Cacak - 140
kilometres (70 miles) from the capital - were almost entirely destroyed in the raids
on
March 28 and 30.
There were gaping holes in roofs, walls had come down and the bombs left several
craters,
some 10 metres (yards) deep and 20 metres (yards) across inside the buildings where a
strong smell of explosive hung in the air.
"Our factory which used only to produce household appliances, has been 80 percent
destroyed," the manager of the complex, Radomir Ljujic told journalists invited
Wednesday
by the army to view the damage.
Ljujic said "about 10 bombs or missiles fell on the factory on March 28 and around 10
more two days later."
Railway lines covered in debris led off to an unidentified location. A sign reading
"Stop
Police" discouraged the curious from investigating further.
Near a huge crater, Mihajlo Draskovik, who said he had worked at the Sloboda (meaning
Freedom) plant for 10 years, was close to tears as he pointed to the damage.
"I am 46 years old and have two children to feed. What is to become of us?" he said
his
voice shaking with emotion.
Further along, men were at work clearing the rubble. They were trying to salvage a few
cookers, heaters and vacuum cleaners from the wreckage. In the trees bordering the
main
road through the factory, bits of sheet metal swung from branches, mute evidence to
the
force of the blasts.
"A year ago, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of our factory. Today we have been
congratulated by NATO," Ljujic said bitterly. "Look at that building. It is not quite
destroyed. Go and tell them to come back and finish their dirty work," he burst out.
"One day, those who have done this will pay dearly for it. It won't be tomorrow but
they
will pay," said engineer Miloje Bosniakovic. He said the workship where vacuum cleaner
motors were assembled was completely flattened.
"A dozen women, dressed in overalls were wielding brooms, desperately inadequate for
the
task in the face of the huge piles of debris. All were tearful.
Sloboda provided jobs for 4,000 people. When family members were included, some
20,000 people will be affected economically by the loss of the factory in Cacak - more
than
a quarter of the town's 75,000 inhabitants.
Ljujic said the factory was worth some 700 million dollars and its annual turnover was
about three million dollars.
Questioned by the press, a Yugoslav army officer said he was unable to say whether
Sloboda also produced military equipment.
Commenting on the damage, the officer said that "militarily speaking, they certainly
aimed
accurately".
"I admit that up to now, they have been decent and have not bombed civilian homes," he
said.
About 50 metres (yards) from the factory, a group of houses on a hill overlooking the
plant, were undamaged.
NATO warplanes also destroyed a bridge over the Danube at Novi Sad in Serbia's northern
Voivodina province early Thursday, soon after 05:00 a.m. (0300 GMT), Tanjug news
agency
reported.
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