Ex-Romanian Dictator Ceausescu Exhumed With Wife

People light candles at the presumed grave of the late Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu at Ghencea cemetery in Bucharest on July 21, after the exhumations.

Officials in Romania have exhumed what are believed to be the remains of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena in order to verify their identities.

The procedure comes after family members doubted that the Ceausescus were really buried in Bucharest's Ghencea cemetery.

Cemetery workers hoisted the casket of Ceausescu and his wife Elena out of their graves.

Pathologists then took DNA samples from the corpses.

Ceausescu ruled Romania from 1965 until December 1989, when he was ousted in an anticommunist revolt and summarily executed alongside his wife.

compiled from agency reports