The bombing of a passenger train near the Grdelička klisura

On 12 April 1999, another tragic attack on civilians took place - the bombing of a passenger train on a bridge in the Grdelička klisura near Leskovac.

Double attack

On the first pass, a NATO aircraft hit the locomotive of the train that was crossing the bridge. After that, on a second pass 50 seconds later, the pilot fired a second missile which hit the passenger carriages.

Victims

At least 14 people were killed (some estimates speak of 20-24), and more than 50 were wounded. Many passengers were trapped in the carriages that caught fire after the explosion.

Controversial video footage

NATO released video footage from the gunsight that supposedly shows how the pilot "could not see" the train. Later analyses showed that the footage had been sped up 3 times in order to create the impression that the pilot did not have time to react.

Admission of a mistake

General Wesley Clark eventually admitted that the train was a civilian target, but justified the attack with the fact that the bridge was "military infrastructure".