Bonn, Sunday

TRAINLOADS of exhausted Bosnian refugees fleeing the trauma of civil

war arrived in towns across Germany today as Bonn's emergency relief

drive went into full swing.

The 2600 men, women, and children, wearing identity labels and

carrying little luggage, began their stay here stammering their

gratitude in broken German but looking drawn and sad.

Almost all were Muslims driven from Bosanki Novi, a town in

north-western Bosnia hit by Serb irregulars in their ''ethnic

cleansing'' drive.

Three trains crossed the Austrian border into the southern state of

Bavaria overnight after a nine-hour journey from the frontline Croatian

town of Karlovac.

Three more trains carrying a further 2500 people were due late tonight

or early tomorrow.

Among the refugees were two babies born as their mothers waited for

the trains in Karlovac.

''The Serbs set my house on fire. They forced me from my village and

from my job so I'm glad that I've got out of that hell,'' said one man,

sitting in a train carriage strewn with sleeping women and children.

Other refugees hid their faces from photographers, fearing Serb

retaliation, but one young mother said: ''I'm so thankful I'm here but I

hope the war in Bosnia will stop sometime and that I will go home soon

with my children.''

Germany, to encourage European Community partners to accept more of

the 2.2 million refugees fleeing former Yugoslavia, announced last week

it would take a further 5000 people in addition to the 200,000 it says

it has already accepted.

The three trains stopped briefly at the Austrian-German border during

the night to take on food before rumbling off to cities across Germany

with their weary passengers.

One train rolled into the Bavarian city of Nuremberg early today to

leave some 700 refugees before continuing its journey north, taking 150

more to Erfurt in the eastern state of Thuringia.

Another arrived mid-morning in Unna in North Rhine-Westfalia carrying

about 800 people, some waving from the train windows.

A third, carrying about 930, was due later in the south-western cities

of Karlsruhe and Kaiserslautern.

Most refugees, supplied with food and hygiene packs and a small gift

of money, will be bussed to Government camps where they will live for

several days before moving in with families who have offered to house

them.

In Bavaria alone, officials said they had received 2500 offers of

shelter from ordinary Germans moved by television reports of the

refugees' misery.

They came mostly in families, many with children, and the first train

also had a surprisingly high number of young men on board, Red Cross

doctor Hans Pallaske said.

Bavarian officials said 40% of the arrivals were children. Red Cross

officials said they had heard, but could not confirm, that many were war

orphans.--Reuter.