I have been aware of the existence of this underground former airbase in what was Yugoslavia for some time but the documentaries etc in which I have seen it featured have only really shown what is left of it above ground. The reason that documentaries etc haven't shown what is underground is because, as I understand it, it is considered too dangerous for anyone to enter the underground complex because of the general state/condition of the place and the underground passages may have been mined and or booby-trapped.
Zeljava airbase was featured on a documentary again yesterday but only above ground. I thought that surely an "Urban Explorer" must have been into the complex, filmed it and put it on Youtube. I have always wondered why the underground complex hasn't been put to some form of use after the end of the Yugoslav wars. Sure enough it is on Youtube.
One has to give whoever was given the task of wrecking this underground complex ten out of ten for their efforts. One wouldn't have thought it possible to make such a thorough job of destroying an underground complex that was once one of the most expensive civil engineering projects in Europe.
I am not suggesting that anyone should travel to Zeljava and I am certainly not suggesting or encouraging anyone to go underground into the complex because, as stated, my understanding is that it may have been mined/booby-trapped and even if not it is still very dangerous due to it's general state and condition.
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it is considered too dangerous for anyone to enter the underground complex because of the general state/condition of the place and the underground passages may have been mined and or booby-trapped.
All of that, mines are so numerous in Yugo it's likely they'll never be cleared. If you read the story about this place, part states... "The airbase was used intensively in 1991, during the Yugoslav Wars. During its withdrawal, the Yugoslav People's Army destroyed the runway by filling pre-built spaces (explicitly designed for the purpose) with explosives and detonating them. To prevent any possible further use of the complex by Croatian and Bosnia-Herzegovinan forces, the Military of Serbian Krajina completed the destruction in 1992 by setting off an additional 56 tons of explosives there. The ensuing explosion was so powerful that it shook the nearby city of Bihać. Residents of nearby villages claimed that smoke continued to rise from the tunnels for six months after the explosion."
Our guys were stationed right there, Bihac and Krajina...winter of '92. The war was still on. It did have uses after too. Željava Air Base - Wikipedia
for some time but the documentaries etc in which I have seen it featured have only really shown what is left of it above ground. The reason that documentaries etc haven't shown what is underground is because, as I understand it, it is considered too dangerous for anyone to enter the underground complex because of the general state/condition of the place and the underground passages may have been mined and or booby-trapped.
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Originally Posted by Flying10uk
