MISSING FOR 40 YRS

Man’s body found after tree grows from seed in his stomach

Times of India 26.09.2018

The body of a man who was murdered more than 40 years ago has been found after a seed from a fig in his stomach grew into a tree. Ahmet Hergune was killed during the conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in 1974, but his body remained undiscovered for decades. It was eventually discovered because the tree which grew from him was unusual for the area.

The man had been taken into a cave with two others and both of them had been killed by dynamite that was thrown in after them. The dynamite also blew a hole in the side of the cave, allowing light to flood into the darkened interior which in turn allowed the fig seed to grow into a tree from his body.

Up to 200,000 people were displaced during the conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

Ahmet Hergune’s sister Munur, 87, said: “We used to live in a village with a population of 4,000, half Greek, half Turkish. In 1974, the disturbances began. My brother Ahmet joined the Turkish Resistance Organization. On June 10, the Greeks took him away.” She added: “For years we searched for him in vain.” But she said that unknown to her, the grave had ended up being marked by the fig tree.

The tree was spotted in 2011 by a researcher who was curious as to how the tree had ended up in the cave and especially in a mountainous area where it was not usually found. While carrying out his research and digging around the tree, he was horrified to find a human body underneath and raised alarm. On digging further, police recovered a total of three bodies.

Munur added that her brother was believed to have been the one who had eaten the fig, and blood samples from her family matched DNA fragments which confirmed it was her brother’s final resting place. Ahmet had apparently eaten the fig shortly before he died. “They found my brother thanks to that tree,” she said. DAILY MIRROR