Optical and near-infrared observations of the GRB 970616 error box

We report on near-infrared and optical observations of the GRB 970616 error box and of the X-ray sources discovered by ASCA and ROSAT in the region. No optical transient was found either within the IPN band or in the X-ray error boxes, similarly to other bursts, and we suggest that either considerable intrinsic absorption was present (like GRB 970828) or that the optical transient displayed a very fast decline (like GRB 980326 and GRB 980519).