Police said Wednesday that a set of bones recovered at a wartime mine in Japan are human remains, and a Japanese group helping search for the remains said they are certain to belong to about 180 mostly Korean forced laborers who died in an accident in 1942.

Police said their examination of the three bones and a skull found this week by Korean divers at the former site of the Chosei Mine in western Yamaguchi prefecture confirmed they are all human remains.

But police said their analysis could not determine whether the three limb bones and skull belonged to the same person, their age or the timing of the death.

The group, known as Kizamu Kai, said they are certain the remains belong to victims who died at the mine 83 years ago and that the discovery is a major boost in their efforts t

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