Serbian protesters demand arrests after train station canopy collapse

Protesters have left red handprints at the entrances of government buildings in the Serbian capital Belgrade to demand the arrest of officials just days after a concrete canopy collapsed at a railway station, killing 14 people and injuring three.

Police formed a cordon outside the Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure in central Belgrade as several thousand people called for ranking government ministers, including Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, to immediately step down.

“What we pointed out today is the responsibility, responsibility of those sitting in the government and ministries that are responsible for the tragedies that happened,” said protester, Ivan Bjelic.

“Our demand is that Goran Vesić [Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure] resigns because this is his responsibility and because that happens in normal countries. In case they don’t do that, people in Novi Sad, political organisations and parties, and citizens have announced radical action.”

The concrete canopy that ran along the front of the railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed suddenly on Friday, landing on people who were sitting on benches or passing through the building’s entrance.

The dead included a 6-year-old girl. The three injured, who are between 18 and 24 years old, all had to have limbs amputated.

Funerals for the victims, attended by thousands, have been held in northern Serbia.

The train station has been renovated twice in recent years and critics of Serbia’s government attributed the disaster to rampant corruption, lack of transparency and sloppy renovations.

The renovation was part of a wider deal with Chinese construction companies.

“Citizens no longer have anything to lose, they are increasingly becoming aware of this,” said liberal politician Biljana Stojković.

“This is grief combined with anger, despair that is turning into rage.”

Serbia’s populist government has promised a thorough investigation, with prosecutors saying they already have questioned more than two dozen people.

But critics believe that justice is unlikely to be served with the populists in firm control of the judicial system and the police.