Tens of thousands of Serbs gathered Saturday to honour the memory of the victims of the Novi Sad tragedy in northern Serbia, where on November 1, 2024, the concrete canopy of the city’s railway station collapsed, killing 16 people.
A multitude of mourners filled the streets as thousands laid flowers, lit candles, and bowed their heads, before the fenced-off area of the station, with tears running down their faces.
“We are heartbroken. No one’s been held responsible for this tragedy, how can this be?” 25-year-old Ivana Grbic said. She walked all the way from the southern Banat town of Vrsac to Novi Sad last night.
“This has been the most tragic year in Serbia’s recent history. No one has been convicted, and it’s clear the regime is trying to protect itself, but people are aware, and they will fight to see those responsible punished,” Nikola Milicevic from Sabac, in western Serbia, said.
At 11:52 a.m. local time, tens of thousands observed 16 minutes of silence in memory of the 16 victims. The unusually warm 22C weather, emotions and the massive crowds caused several people to faint.
No one in Novi Sad carried the Serbian flag. The government had declared November 1 a Day of Mourning, banning the display of national flags and ordering all public institutions to lower them to half-mast.
Citizens gathered at 16 different locations across the city to commemorate the victims. Those unable to reach Novi Sad stopped their cars along highways and stood silently for 16 minutes in tribute.
Throughout the day, students, intellectuals, and relatives of the deceased delivered speeches from special platforms set up across the city.
The mother of one of the 16 victims of the tragedy in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad a year ago, announced that she is starting a hunger strike. “I need to know who killed my child, who killed 16 people. Someone must be held accountable for this. I will go on a hunger strike in front of Belgrade City Hall, in front of the camp of Aleksandar Vucic’s supporters,” Dijana Hrka told those who had gathered in Novi Sad.
“I want to thank the students who keep me alive, the bikers, the veterans, us, ordinary people. Today is the saddest day for all of us, today Novi Sad is crying, but I am fighting so that no one will ever cry again, not a single mother, not a single sister,” Dijana Hrka, whose son Stefan Hrka is one of the 16 victims, said. Hrka called on Serbian President Vucic to call early elections, as the students demanded in early May.
Some water supply failures were reported, and electricity was unexpectedly cut in two university faculties. Hotel and restaurant accommodations were fully booked since yesterday, with many families traveling from across Serbia to attend and planning to stay through tomorrow. Security across the city was tight, with a heavy police presence, including plainclothes officers from the Serbian Interior Ministry.
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