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Sister of ethnic Albanian boy Egzon Deliu mourns over her brother's coffin in the Kosovo village of Cabra

It started with the drowning of two Albanian boys in a river in the tense northern part of the territory. A 10-year-old survivor said the boys had been chased into the freezing river by Serbs. A day or two later newspapers in Pristina headlined, 'Serbs Kill Albanian Boys.' Passions escalated. There were rumors of impending violence. Albanians closed their shops for safety before violence exploded into anti-Serb riots on March 17.

Aid workers say Serbs and Serb property, particularly churches, were the clear targets. And they say that while the demonstrations may have started peacefully they were quickly exploited by extremists who don't want Serbs living in a territory that is over 90 percent ethnic Albanian.

YU buildings (VOA photo - B. Wood)

Here in Pristina, nearly 300 Serbs lived in what are called the YU buildings, an apartment complex near the city center. Ethnic-Albanian doctor Blerim Cila, whose clinic is on the ground floor, says protesters angry at the death of the Albanian boys marched to the buildings.

"They have known that there were internationals and Serbians," said Dr. Cila. "They have come here to show their revolt. And what happened? Some, we don't know who, started [breaking windows] with glasses. And then they burned it."

Parts of the complex used by ethnic Albanians like the doctor were not attacked. But one large section where ethnic Serbs lived was completely burned.

One resident of that part of the YU buildings was Vesna Bojicic, a Serbian language reporter for the Voice of America. She describes a night of terror as the Albanian mob, with no police in sight, set fire to her part of the complex, while she huddled with 32 other people who had come to her apartment for safety.

Vesna Bojicic (VOA photo - B. Wood)

"My first thought was if they come to the flat I know what they are going to do with us," said Ms. Bojicic. "I will take my son and jump from the fifth floor. Because I could imagine what will happen with me if they catch me and my son."

In the end Ms. Bojicic was helped by an ethnic Albanian, colleague who alerted the United Nations police force.

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Thousands of Kosovo Albanians gather during a funeral ceremony for funeral of four Albanians killed in clashes

"When I tried to leave my building they [the Albanian mob] tried to shoot us," she recalled. "The one woman, an American police officer, took me and pushed me under one car [to protect her] and she started to shoot them back. Many soldiers come in the meantime and start to protect other people."

The United Nations refugee agency says that by the time the rioting throughout the province was over, 15 ethnic Albanians and six Serbs were dead, as many as 800 people were injured and more than 4,000 people were left homeless, most of them ethnic Serbs.

Blerim Cila, the ethnic Albanian doctor, blames the United Nations police for failing to protect the complex. And he says fire trucks never arrived.

"Nobody has come here to help and provide this [fire trucks]," he said. "For me, with my clinic here, I have asked UNMIK [UN] and KFOR [military] what happened?"

The Kosovar prime minister has promised to quickly reconstruct the burned part of the YU buildings, from which 269 Serbs have been displaced.

The VOA reporter, Vesna Bojicic, is skeptical. She is haunted by the ferocity of the mob violence, by the anti-Serb slogans, and the looting of all the apartments. Like most Serbs, currently living in temporary shelters south of the city under the protection of Swedish troops, she is reluctant to return to the city in which she was born.

"No, I don't think so," she said. "You know, now I'm in Gracanica and I feel safe. But I couldn't tell you that I could be safe in Pristina right now."

Aid workers and international officials are still stunned by the riots that took place all over Kosovo. They say the United Nations and the NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR were not prepared, and were overwhelmed by the scale of the violence.