Another protest in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad following the collapse of a concrete canopy at the city's railway station is planned for today. The Serbian opposition calls on citizens 14 days after the accident to demonstrate “civil disobedience” and with a 14-minute silence to honor the 14 who died in the tragic accident.
On November 1, in Novi Sad, about 70 km from Belgrade, the visor collapsed at the entrance to the city's train station, killing 14 people, injuring many, and three of the injured are still in serious condition. Among the dead are two children – six and ten years old.
„It's been 14 days since the tragedy and it's not enough that no one has taken responsibility and no one has been charged, and many have been heard, but we don't have any suspects. That's why we called on the citizens to show resistance against the evasion of responsibility by those in charge," said Stefan Babic from the opposition movement "Make Changes", quoted by regional television En 1.
So far, only the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Goran Vesic, has resigned, saying that he does not take the blame for the tragedy. Following Vesic's formal resignation, Prime Minister Milos Vucevic said he expected more resignations from the line ministry, and on Wednesday he reiterated that he expected that to happen by the end of this week. The opposition parties, which are among the initiators of some of the protests, also want the resignation of Prime Minister Vucevic, who was the mayor of Novi Sad in the past, as well as the current mayor Milan Djuric.
„For the demonstrators, Milos Vucevic is politically responsible for this tragedy,” explained political scientist from Novi Sad Aleksandar Ivkovic, quoted by Francepress.
The prosecutor's office in Novi Sad has interviewed more than 60 people so far in the case, but has not yet brought charges. According to a press release from the prosecutor's office, at the moment “an examination is being carried out on the cause of the collapse of the visor, as well as an analysis of seized samples from the debris”.
„After this expertise and establishing the reasons for the fall of the visor, the prosecutor's office will be able to establish responsibility for the omissions that led to the tragedy”, the press release adds, emphasizing that this case represents an “absolute priority” for the institution.
Among the demands of the protesters is the publication of all "secret" agreements in connection with the repair of the station, as well as control of all infrastructure projects that have been started and implemented in the last ten years, notes the Serbian edition of Radio Free Europe.
While the opposition is planning a “stop“ in Novi Sad today, youths plan to stop traffic on Sunday for six hours. Their demands are the same as the opposition – establishing responsibility for what happened.
„Along with the barricade, we will also have events that aim to activate and listen to the citizens in relation to the whole situation and the fall of the visor. We will have guest speakers, performances, but we will also call and involve the citizens to demonstrate civil disobedience, said Jelena Bozic from the civic group "SviChe".
The station in Novi Sad was built in 1964, renovated in 2021 and 2022, with minor renovation works until July this year, when the Ministry of Transport announced that a total of 16 million euros had been invested in the renovation.< /p>
Construction Minister Goran Vesic, the state-owned Serbian Railway Company, the State Transport Institute and a Chinese consortium consisting of China Railway International Co. Ltd and China Communications Construction Company, which repaired station, are among those potentially responsible for the tragedy. According to Serbian media, the cause of the visor's collapse may also be the long-neglected rust on the metal parts of the structure.
So far, two large protests have been organized in Novi Sad and Belgrade, as well as daily smaller protests. While the large protest in Novi Sad on 5 November was described by citizens as “magnificent”, the subsequent large protest in Belgrade on 11 November was described as “rather meaningless”, as the ultimate goal of these protests had not yet been achieved. protests – establishment of liability.