Tragedy in Novi Sad: Mourning after railway station collapse

On 1st November, part of a wall at the railway station in Novi Sad collapsed. As a result of the incident, 14 people died, with several others injured. Initially, it was reported that seven victims had been identified, with more identifications confirmed in the following hours. The rescue operation was halted on Friday night.

According to the Serbian Telegraph, among the victims were two young girls - 9-year-old Valentina and 6-year-old Sara. They died along with their grandfather, 53-year-old Dorde. The girls' aunt posted a memorial on social media, announcing the girls’ deaths and the date of the funeral - 5th November. The girls' father shared with the "Serbian Telegraph" how he found out about their deaths.

My wife called me and said that the part of the building where they were waiting for the bus had collapsed. I called my father's phone, but he didn't answer. Then I called my elder daughter Valentina countless times, but she wasn't answering either. We immediately went to Novi Sad. We were sent from one hospital to another to find them, but we couldn’t, and they were already dead. It was only at half-past one in the morning that we found out they had passed away – you can imagine that uncertainty - the man described.

The authorities in Novi Sad have announced a three-day mourning period in response to the tragedy. People are gathering at the station where the incident occurred, lighting candles and laying flowers. The station had been opened in July of this year after a major renovation, for which the Chinese consortium CRIC&CCCC was responsible. The Serbian State Railways announced on Friday that the collapsed part of the roof was not included in the recent reconstruction works. The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, stated that he "expects both criminal and political accountability" for those responsible for the tragedy.