Workers in Kurdish northern Iraq digging the foundation for a new hospital have discovered a mass grave that a regional official says may contain scores of bodies.

Speaking Wednesday in the town of Suleimaniyah, regional human rights minister Salah Rashid said the bodies are likely those of Kurds killed by Saddam Hussein's army following the end of the 1991 Gulf War.

The Associated Press quotes a 60-year-old local man as saying hundreds of Kurds are buried at the site, including his brother.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say more than 250 mass graves have been unearthed across Iraq since Saddam's ouster in 2003.  The former dictator remains in U.S. custody, and is expected to go on trial next year on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.  

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.