VRANJE - At least 16 people died when five NATO missiles hit a sanatorium for respiratory disorders and an old people's home in Surdulica in the southeast of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia shortly after midnight on Monday.

Five refugees were killed in the sanatorium and six old people in the old people's home, according to the Vranje-based Pcinj District civil defence command and the command in Surdulica.

It is feared the number of fatalities may be higher, with rescue parties still clearing away the debris and searching for survivors.

Three NATO missiles hit the three pavilions of the sanatorium, and two missiles hit the adjacent old people's home.

Extensive damage was done to near-by buildings, and the wounded are being counted.

This was NATO's sixth raid on Surdulica, a town with a population of 12,500, since the western alliance launched its aggression on Yugoslavia on March 24.

Eleven people had died, about 100 others had been wounded and 500 private houses had been demolished or damaged in NATO's raid on the town on April 27.