Sarajevo Tunnel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sarajevo tunnel

During the Siege of Sarajevo during Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995, the Sarajevo Tunnel was constructed by the besieged citizens of Sarajevo in order to link the city of Sarajevo, which was entirely cut-off by Serbian forces, with the supposedly neutral area at the Sarajevo airport set up by the United Nations. The tunnel linked the Sarajevo neighbourhoods of Dobrinja and Butmir.

Beginning in January 1993, the Sarajevo Tunnel was dug by Bosnian volunteers working in 8-hour shifts. The Sarajevo tunnel was completed in mid-1993, which allowed food and humanitarian aid to come into the city, and people to get out. The tunnel was one of the major ways of bypassing the international arms embargo and providing the city defenders with weaponry. In effect, it is said the tunnel saved Sarajevo, though some scholars argue^[who?] that in fact humanitarian assistance from the United Nations prolonged the siege.

The tunnel was 1.5 metres in height and width, and ran for approximately 800 metres in length. During the time it was used, it is estimated that 20 million tons of food entered the city, and 1 million people passed in and out of it.

The tunnel was most famously used to transport the former Bosnian president Alija Izetbegović in his wheelchair which was run on the railway of the tunnel. The 20 metres of tunnel that are left today now form part of a museum in Sarajevo, which is open to visitors.