Serbia Mourns Victims After Roof Collapse Kills 14

Sumaira FH Published November 03, 2024 | 01:20 AM

Novi Sad, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Nov, 2024) Thousands of citizens gathered for a night vigil Saturday in northern Serbia to mourn the 14 people killed when the roof of a train station collapsed.

The disaster struck early on Friday at the main train station in the northern city of Novi Sad.

At a makeshift memorial on the boulevard near the station residents silently lit candles and laid flowers while some held white papers with the Names of the victims.

Vigils were also held in towns across Serbia as residents expressed their anger and disbelief, demanding accountability for the tragedy.

"First, I am very sad, second I think that something has to be done, to be changed, so we can live with dignity. The authorities have to fulfil their responsibilities.

I am very bitter, very angry," pensioner Vera Lekovic Ogorelica, 66, told AFP.

"I simply couldn't be anywhere else than here tonight. To send a message of solidarity, to share the pain with the families of the victims," said another mourner, kindergarten teacher Maja Drazic, 37.

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Saturday that the authorities had started "determining responsibility" for the disaster.

Dacic told tv Prva that the prosecutor's office would be questioning 20 people, "starting from the top, people from the ministries, the public company (Serbia) Railways".

He said that police were seizing documents related to the railway station from the ministry of construction, transport and infrastructure.