Belgrade citizens demand resignations over Novi Sad accident: Crime, not tragedy!

(Patria) - A large number of citizens who gathered on Sunday in Belgrade demanded the resignation of Goran Vesić, Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Serbia, after the collapse of a canopy at the Railway Station in Novi Sad, which killed 14 people and left three seriously injured, Anadolu reports.

The citizens gathered on the plateau in front of the old railway station in Belgrade, after which they headed to the building of the Ministry of Construction of Serbia, where they showed their hands painted with red paint to police officers who prevented them from approaching the building. From there, they returned to the building of the Government of Serbia, in front of which they left red handprints to symbolically tell the authorities that they have “bloody hands.”

They carried placards reading “Crime, not tragedy,” “Corruption kills,” “For those responsible, look in the mirror,” and chanted “Resignations.”

The protest at Savski Square began with a minute of silence for the victims in Novi Sad and the reading of the names of the 14 people who died when the canopy collapsed in Novi Sad.

The organizers believe that the deaths of the people who perished in Novi Sad are a direct consequence of corruption, negligence, failures in quality control and construction work, structural issues, and other factors that could have possibly prevented the tragedy. They announced that if Vesić does not resign by Tuesday, they will be in Novi Sad.

The call for the protest was published on the Instagram page of the informal group “SviĆe,” and activist Nikola Ristić, one of the organizers, was taken to the Savski Venac Police Station and released during the protest.

During the collapse of the canopy at the Railway Station in Novi Sad on Friday, 14 people died, with the youngest victim being only six years old.

Three people in serious condition who were injured in the collapse are hospitalized at the Clinical Center of Vojvodina in Novi Sad.