close
close

Pasteleria-edelweiss

Real-time news, timeless knowledge

Protesters in Serbia demand arrest over station roof collapse
bigrus

Protesters in Serbia demand arrest over station roof collapse

Angry protesters left red handprints at the entrances to government buildings in Serbia’s capital on Sunday, demanding the arrest of authorities after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in the country’s north, killing 14 people and seriously injuring three others.

Thousands of people called for the immediate resignation of senior government ministers, including Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, while police formed a cordon in front of the Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure in central Belgrade.

“Arrest, arrest!” shouted slogans to the crowd.

Serbia Roof Collapse
Protesters in Belgrade, holding red paint symbolizing blood, chant slogans and demand arrest after the station disaster in Novi Sad on Friday (Darko Vojinovic/AP)

He shouted to the police outside the building, “You are protecting murderers” and “Your hands are bloody”, while “Corruption kills” and “We are all under the shadow!” They carried banners saying:

Opposition political activist Nikola Ristic called: “Wherever possible, leave bloody hands so they know their hands are bloody. “In every city of Serbia, wherever possible.”

The concrete dome in front of the train station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed suddenly on Friday, falling on people sitting on benches or walking through the building’s entrance.

Security camera footage showed the canopy collapsing within seconds.

Serbia Roof Collapse
Rescuers search for victims after roof collapse at Novi Sad station (Darko Vojinovic/AP)

A 6-year-old girl was among the dead.

Doctors said the three injured, aged between 18 and 24, all had to have their limbs amputated and remained in serious condition on Sunday.

Funerals for the victims, attended by thousands of people, were held in northern Serbia.

The train station has been renovated twice in recent years, and critics of Serbia’s populist government blame the disaster on widespread corruption, lack of transparency and sloppy renovations. The renovation was part of a broader deal with Chinese construction companies.

Liberal politician Biljana Stojkovic said: “Citizens no longer have anything to lose, they are increasingly realizing this. “This is grief combined with anger, despair turning into rage.”

Serbia Roof Collapse
Protesters chanted: ‘Corruption kills’ and ‘We are all under the shadow!’ They carried banners with written slogans. (Darko Vojinovic/AP)

Serbia’s populist government has promised a thorough investigation, while prosecutors said they have already interrogated more than two dozen people.

But critics believe justice is unlikely to be achieved with populists keeping tight control of the judicial system and police.

Officials insisted that the canopy was part of the renovation work and suggested that was the reason for the collapse, but did not give any explanation as to why.

Novi Sad station was first built in 1964; The renovated station was opened more than two years ago by President Aleksandar Vucic and his populist ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, as an important stopover for the high-speed railway line planned to be built between Belgrade and Budapest.