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James Mason | all galleries >> Galleries >> The war in Central Bosnia > Hit by a sea mine
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1993 James Mason

Hit by a sea mine

Gornji Vakuf, central Bosnia

At the British briefing for the press in Vitez an officer joked that his men had seen an HVO truck with a huge sea mine on it. What would a sea mine be doing in Bosnia? A few days later this Muslim neighborhood near Gornji Vakuf was devastated by a huge explosion....walking around shooting pictures I met a man who could tell the tale. After supper one evening he heard a bump against the wall of his house. He went outside and was stunned to see a huge sea mine against the wall. The man was a veteran of the Jugoslav Navy, odd for a Bosnian, and he had experience with mines. He said he recited the Naval stock number of the mine to himself as he contemplated his next move. He went up and got his family and told them to quickly get away, which they did. Then he warned his neighbors. When the mine went off about ten minutes later, his house was "shredded." The whole neighborhood was wrecked, but there were no casualties. The water system quit working and these women had just been to a spring for water. They had to run through an area covered by snipers, but were safe here where I shot their picture.


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