Serbia marks Novi Sad station disaster anniversary

‘SEISMIC CHANGES’: The tragedy sparked a student movement and played a central role in a student-backed list winning 140 seats in Serbia’s parliament, enough to govern alone

Thousands of Serbs were yesterday expected to gather in Novi Sad to honor the victims of a railway station disaster that launched the anti-government movement which toppled the country’s right-wing ruling party a week ago.

The gathering will mark two years since the concrete canopy at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second city collapsed, killing 16 people.

Amid nationwide grief and mounting questions over the station’s multi-million-euro renovation, the disaster sparked some of Serbia’s largest protests since the fall of then-Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.

People in Belgrade on Saturday observe 15 minutes of silence in memory of the victims of the fatal November 2024 Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse.

Photo: Reuters

“It’s hard to go back to the place where it all happened,” said Dijana Hrka, whose 27-year-old son Stefan was killed in the collapse. “And each time, it gets harder and harder.”

This year’s anniversary falls just a week after the snap election result, with the now-victorious student movement returning to the place that first spawned protests.

Hrka herself became a key protest symbol, and she said the push for justice gave her hope.

“The support of people meant so much to me,” she said, reflecting on the past two years.

“People who support me, who genuinely want us all to achieve justice together,” she said through tears, adding that no one had yet been held accountable for her son’s death.

Demands for a transparent investigation brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets and played a central role in its electoral victory.

The student-backed list won about 140 seats in the 250-member parliament, enough to govern alone.

Hrka hopes the seismic changes in the country will help accelerate investigations into the tragedy.

In the days since outgoing Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic’s party conceded the election, the students have called for progress in numerous corruption and high-profile murder probes, as well as fresh investigations into projects launched by the former government.

The student movement also called for the heads of several key state agencies, including the police and intelligence services, to resign.

Several investigations into the Novi Sad tragedy are ongoing, but no trial has started.

Former Serbian minister of construction, transport and infrastructure Goran Vesic, who resigned days after the collapse, was charged last year alongside 12 others with a serious crime against public safety.

“If we manage to put them behind bars now, this will never happen again,” Hrka said. “I hope this was the last time we had to take to the streets in such numbers because of a tragedy. That’s all I hope for.”