Workers who participated in the digging of the tunnel beneath Sarajevo airport gathered on the 31st anniversary of the opening of the passage that enabled survival during the siege of the city.
On the anniversary of the breakthrough and commissioning of the war tunnel, which the citizens of Sarajevo called the Tunnel of Hope during the siege, a ceremony was held yesterday to mark this date in front of the former entrance to the tunnel in the Dobrinja neighborhood. From 8 p.m. yesterday, workers who excavated the tunnel attended the commemoration in front of the Educational Center of the Tunnel D-B Memorial Complex – the Dobrinja side of the Tunnel of Hope.
According to Ahmed Kulanic, director of the Memorial Center, the Tunnel of Hope is an authentic historical site and a memorial place important in the history of Sarajevo as it enabled the survival of citizens by connecting the city with the territory outside the besieged area.
The tunnel, which ran beneath the airport runway, connected the Sarajevo neighborhoods of Butmir and Dobrinja and was the only direct link for the residents of besieged Sarajevo to the outside world.
Around 300 people, including members of the civil protection and military, dug the tunnel from both sides. It ultimately stretched over 720 meters in length and stood just about a meter and a half high.
“In addition to its functional role, the tunnel also represents a significant construction and architectural feat. In those times and conditions, building and digging the tunnel, and connecting it from both sides, was a marvel of Bosnian ingenuity and the people who worked on its construction during the most difficult times,” said Kulanic.
According to information from the Memorial Center, a total of 2.800 cubic meters of earth was excavated, around 170 cubic meters of wood was used, and 45 tons of metal were installed. In 1994, small rails were laid in the tunnel for carts.
Nazim Muratovic, who participated in digging the Sarajevo war tunnel through which food was brought into the besieged city, was the commander of the Civil Protection Municipal Headquarters in Ilidza and passed away in February 2023.
Previously, Muratovic said that the tunnel was the only solution at the time to get food into Sarajevo and to work towards lifting the blockade of the city.
“You had to go down five meters below ground level, and the front line was 300 meters away from the tunnel digging site. It wasn’t easy to go down there while people were dying. Every day, 25 souls were lost, and you had to go down and dig. Down there, you were in that mud, water pouring from the walls, from the ceiling,” Muratovic said at the time.
He described using special tools that they made themselves.
Kulanic noted that the interest of tourists, as well as Bosnian and Herzegovinian (BiH) citizens, had been increasing year by year, and the number of visits had grown. This year, according to him, the Tunnel was visited by about 100.000 people.
“What is new this year is that we have introduced free entry for elementary and high school students, and we have had more than 6.000 such visits,” said Kulanic.
According to unofficial information, 1.120.000 people passed through the tunnel, with around 4.000 people using it daily, and 20 tons of various goods were transported through it every night.
Judgments by the Hague Tribunal established that the units of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS) deliberately targeted civilians, conducting a campaign of terror that lasted for three and a half years. The judgments confirmed that Sarajevo was under siege, Detektor writes.
E.Dz.
