Ninety-nine nuclear bunkers. It sounds like a song by a 1980s German band. But it’s the number of underground shelters built in 1955 when Antwerp’s port was a Cold War target.
The bunkers are hidden deep below the quays, but the concrete entrances fitted with heavy metal doors are easy to spot. The bunkers could shelter anything from six to 120 people.
The 99 shelters were abandoned in the 1990s when the threat of a nuclear missile attack was judged to be low. And the chances of anyone surviving a nuclear war were close to zero.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
