Students Lead Silent Protest In Belgrade To Honor Victims Of Railway Roof Collapse

On Friday, tens of thousands of anti-government protesters amassed in Belgrade to demand justice for the victims of a fatal railway roof collapse, commemorating the tragedy by holding a 15-minute silent protest in front of the RTS building.

The protest, led by students from Belgrade’s state university, responded to the November 1 collapse of the concrete awning at the Novi Sad railway station, which killed 15 people and injured three. Protesters blame corruption and mismanagement by the Serbian government, specifically the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of President Aleksandar Vucic, for the disaster.

Among the most visible are twin brothers Lazar and Luka Stojakovic, activists at the Faculty of Organisational Science. Pro-government media falsely accused them of being paid agents of Croatia’s secret service. These threats and attacks on their personal lives do not stop the brothers from leading the protests. Luka Stojakovic condemned the widespread corruption, saying, “It entered every single layer of our society, and it is the main cause of the roof collapse and the deaths of 15 people.”

The students are also demanding criminal prosecution of those responsible for the renovation of the station, and they demand transparency in the release of documents regarding the project. Besides protesting, university students have been blocking traffic and holding protests across Belgrade, Kragujevac, and Nis for weeks, demanding accountability.

The tragedy happened following the collapse of the roof of the newly renovated Novi Sad station, which caused national outrage following the failure of oversight and the supposedly careless behavior of those in charge of the renovation project.