ABSTRACT

At around 10.15 a.m. on 9 November 1993, the Old Bridge, or Stari Most, at Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, collapsed into the River Neretva. The bridge had spanned the Neretva for over 400 years linking East Mostar (and the Bosnian hinterlands) to West Mostar (and routes to the Adriatic Coast). Having survived natural disasters and wars, the bridge had fi nally been destroyed by Bosnian Croat forces intent on the ethnic division of the city of Mostar. Despite having previously worked to protect the Stari Most from Bosnian Serb shells, the Croatian Defence Council (HVO, the Bosnian Croat Army) subjected the bridge to a sustained bombardment. Beginning on 8 November, the HVO relentlessly shelled the bridge. Sarajevo newspapers reported that by the time the Stari Most actually collapsed it had been hit by over sixty shells (Traynor 1993, 10).