Last Friday, fourteen people died when the concrete shelter above the entrance to the station in the city of Novi Sad in the north of Serbia collapsed. Several other people ended up in hospital with serious injuries. Anđela, a twenty-year-old Slovak from Lowland, also died on the spot with her friend Miloš. An investigation has been launched into what caused the collapse and who is responsible for the tragedy. The station has recently been renovated.
05.11.2024 23:10
Photo: SITA/AP, Darko Vojinovic
People light candles for the victims of the roof collapse at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia, on Saturday, November 2, 2024.
Anđela came from the town of Stará Pazova in Vojvodina. The site Lowland Slovaks abroad reported about it on the social network. According to media reports, the girl also died at the station with her boyfriend Miloš.
In a speech to the nation, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić confirmed that the accident claimed 14 lives, including a six-year-old girl and a citizen of North Macedonia. According to the president’s critics, corruption and careless renovation by his government are to blame for the disaster.
Security camera footage showed people walking in and out of the station building and sitting on benches on a sunny day when the concrete structure suddenly collapsed on top of them. The building has already been renovated twice over the years. However, according to Serbian Railways, the last renovation did not concern the structure above the entrance to the building.
Photo: SITA/AP, Interior Ministry of Serbia
Serbian, new fruit Rescuers intervene at the site of a collapsed part of the roof of a train station in the Serbian city of Nový Sad on Friday, November 1, 2024.
Protesters attacked the town hall building
On Tuesday, protesters in Novi Sad shot flares and painted the local town hall building red. This is how they reacted to Friday’s tragedy. The police used tear gas against the demonstrators, AP and Reuters reported.
Protesters surrounded a building in the center of Novi Sad and, despite calls from the organizers of the demonstration to maintain peace, painted the town hall red and threw various objects at it – eggs, bottles and bricks. In the process, the windows were also broken, into which liquid fertilizer was subsequently poured from the tank, writes Reuters. Special police units were deployed in the building.
Photo: SITA/AP, Marko Drobnjakovic
novi sad, Serbian Protesters in the Serbian city of Nový Sad shot flares and painted the local town hall building red. They responded to the tragedy at the local railway station, in which 14 people died.
“People are very angry … it’s a great sadness,” said Radomir Lazović, an opposition member of parliament who joined the protest.
Thousands of people had previously marched through the streets of the city demanding the resignation of top officials, including President Aleksandar Vucic, in connection with the roof collapse. The protesters are convinced that the accident happened because of the corruption and negligence of the local authorities.
Serbian Transport Minister Goran Vesič resigned on Monday in response to the tragedy.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
