60 unexploded NATO bombs in Serbia

BELGRADE -- There are 60 unexploded bombs at 43 locations in Serbia, left over from the 1999 war, most in the Danube and Sava river-beds.

Odbrana (Defense) magazine cited records from the Center for Mines Clearance that most of the bombs in question, left unexploded after NATO air campaign, weighing between 250 and 930 kilograms, lay deep in the rivers, which has made it difficult to locate them with precision.

Center’s Director Petar Mihajlović said that, according to some studies, bombs located deeper than six meters into the ground do not pose any immediate danger to people and the surroundings, which is why foreign donors show little interest in their removal.

It costs between EUR 100,000 and 250,000 to remove such a bomb, depending on its location.

“It also happens that after digging out hundreds of cubic meters of land, a bomb is not found anywhere beneath since its trajectory through multiple layers of ground is unpredictable."

"When we were looking for a stray bomb under the Chinese Embassy, hit in 1999, the device burrowed ten meters deep and then spun out towards the surface,” he explained.