Gruesome discovery beneath Odessa Catacombs illustrates dangers of Urban Exploration

Time for a public service announcement: while secret, underground parties that happen in places like the off-limits areas of the Paris Catacombs look like a blast, they’re illegal for a reason. Case in point – it’s really, really, really easy to get lost, as one poor girl discovered after a party in Odessa.

Odessa, just outside of Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, is home to one of the largest catacombs in the entire world. With over 1,500 miles of subterranean tunnels, Odessa’s catacombs even beat out the well-known Paris Catacombs in terms of length. After a nearly a century of mining operations beneath the city, and a stint as a WWII hiding place, the government officially sealed all entrances to the tunnels in 1980. Well, they tried to, at least.

Despite the best efforts of officials to keep adventurous folks out of the Catacombs, the tunnels proved to be a popular spot for teenagers to hold their wild parties far from the prying eyes of adults. Unfortunately, the extreme isolation meant that while you could party in peace, your chances of of dying in peace are also increased exponentially.

In 2009, an urban explorer known only as Eugene took to UER.com to share a morbid discovery that he’d made deep below the Odessa streets.

From the thread:

As I said earlier, a lot of people lost and even dead under Odessa. Maybe this photo will shock you. It`s a dead body of the 19-years old girl, who has lost the right way in the maze. Her body was found only after 2 years…

…It’s a very sad story. She went with her friends into katakombs to celebrate a 2005s new year. It was a very big bad-experiment group, so probably when in the morning drunk group left katakombs, they forgot girl inside. It was a very long and painful death! She couldn’t find an entrance. She was taken out only in the end of 2007 аnd buried.

I made this photo in Аpril 2005. Аfter thаt I called police, but they did not want to go inside. Her body was far from the exit.

Let the sad story be a warning to all would-be urban explorers – if you decide to crawl into the Earth’s hidden places, make sure you go with a friend, tell others where you are, and don’t stray from the path.

On the other hand, you could always play it safe and take an official, guided tour of the Paris Catacombs, Capuchin Catacombs, or the Seattle Underground Tunnels.

All images via UER

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