Thousands protest in Serbian city over fatal roof collapse

A group of protesters tries to enter the city hall during a protest in Novi Sad on November 5, 2024, after a train station roof collapsed last week killing 14 people. Agence France-Presse

NOVI SAD, Serbia — Thousands of protesters, red paint and smashed windows at the city hall: The Serbian city where a train station roof collapsed last week killing 14 people was at a boiling point Tuesday evening.

The deadly accident in Novi Sad struck just months after the station completed a years-long renovation.

It sparked outrage across Serbia, with people taking to the streets and social media users demanding the resignation of government officials for what they allege is weak oversight on construction and development projects.

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“I’m here because one six-year-old girl will never blow out seven candles on her birthday cake,” Maja Gledic, a 50-year-old saleswoman at the protest, told AFP.

“This little girl had a nine-year-old sister who won’t be blowing (her) ten (birthday) candles either,” she said, referring to two sisters who were among the victims.

“How many children we still have to count for this to be over?” Gledic said, barely holding back tears.

Three people, aged between 18 and 24, were seriously injured in the accident and still in critical condition on Tuesday.

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So far 48 people have been questioned in an investigation into the accident, according to the authorities.

Construction Minister Goran Vesic resigned earlier Tuesday, saying he was “a responsible man who wants to show by personal example that in today’s Serbia there is moral responsibility due to the terrible tragedy”.

The minister said on X he was quitting with a “clear conscience”.

But for the protesters in Novi Sad, who first gathered in front of the train station and observed a minute of silence for the victims, it was not enough.

“You are guilty!” one of the organizers told the authorities, speaking from an improvised stage.

Many held banners that read “Crime”, with their hands painted red.

The protesters chanted “Prison, prison!” and “Arrest the criminals”.

‘Victims of regime’

“These fourteen dead and three wounded are, above all, victims of this regime and of everything that is happening in Serbia over the last twelve years,” protester Vladimir Gvozdenovic, a 60-year-old economist, told AFP.

“This accident did not come by itself. It is the product of arrogance, impudence and thievery of this country and these authorities. Eventually, their criminal manner of running the country results in the death of people.”

For Gvozdenovic and fellow protesters, the ruling nationalist SNS party is guilty of negligence in overseeing public infrastructure construction projects that are proliferating across the country.

From the train station from where the protesters began their march, they moved to city hall where dozens of them threw red paint, stones, bottles and flares at the building, smashing its windows.

Police inside the building responded with pepper spray, while other protesters tried to intervene, shouting “don’t destroy our city,” in a tense atmosphere, according to an AFP reporter.

Meanwhile, President Aleksandar Vucic pledged to punish those responsible for the violence.

“My message to them (protesters) is that the police are very restrained tonight, not only because of them, but also because of the reverence we show for the victims of the terrible tragedy,” he said in a video posted on Instagram.

Vucic said that “everyone who participated in this will be punished”.

Late Tuesday, he visited Novi Sad, where he lit candles at the train station for the victims of the accident.

The central railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, underwent three years of renovation that was completed in July.

Serbia Railways has said the collapsed outdoor roof was not part of the renovations.

The nearly five-hour protest ended around 2130 GMT.