BELGRADE, Nov 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Serbian authorities arrested 11 people as part of a probe into a train station accident that killed 15 people, prosecutors said.
There have been protests and anger nationwide over the collapse on Nov 1 of a concrete roof at the station in Novi Sad — which followed lengthy renovation work on the facility.
Many are blaming the deaths in the northern city on rampant corruption and lax oversight of construction projects.
The Novi Sad public prosecutor’s office said 11 people — who it named only by their initials — had been arrested on its orders.
Prosecutors “collected and thoroughly analysed all the necessary documents, conducted interviews with a large number of people and received an analysis aimed at determining the causes and circumstances of the collapse”, the office said.
There have been regular protests since the accident, with demonstrators demanding the judiciary act more quickly and arrest those responsible.
Protesters also seek the resignation of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic and the mayor of Novi Sad, along with the prosecution of officials responsible for the tragedy.
Two ministers have already resigned — Construction Minister Goran Vesic and Trade Minister Tomislav Momirovich, who was construction minister from 2020 to 2022 — the period in which the station renovation work began.
Serbia Railway Infrastructure’s acting general director Jelena Tanaskovic has also stepped down.
The opposition and a section of the public have demanded the publication of the contracts signed with the companies involved in renovating the station.
A consortium of four companies — China Railway International and China Communications Construction, France’s Egis and Hungary’s Utiber — were in charge of the works.
The renovations were completed just a few weeks before the roop collapsed.
Fourteen people, aged between six and 74, were killed at the scene, while one person died in hospital on Sunday. — NNN-AGENCIES
