Belgrade high school students blocked the Gazela Bridge on Tuesday in protest, marking five months since the Novi Sad train station collapse that killed 16 people.
According to Radio Free Europe (RFE) reporters, only the lane heading towards New Belgrade was blocked during the demonstration.
Student Protest Over Fatal Accident
Before marching towards Gazela Bridge, students gathered at the National Assembly square and proceeded through Kneza Miloša Street, one of Belgrade’s major roads.
The protest was sparked by the November 1, 2024, collapse of a 300-ton concrete canopy at the Novi Sad Railway Station, which had been newly reconstructed and officially reopened just months earlier.
The tragedy claimed 16 lives and left one person severely injured.
The incident led to a wave of protests and university blockades across Serbia, with students demanding criminal and political accountability for the deaths.
Criminal Investigation and Corruption Allegations
The prosecutors in Novi Sad and Belgrade are conducting separate investigations into the station collapse and alleged corruption linked to the reconstruction project.
On December 30, 2024, the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad indicted 13 individuals, accusing them of negligence in the renovation project.
Among those charged are:
- Goran Vesić, former Minister of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure (currently free)
- Anita Dimoski, his former assistant (under house arrest)
- Jelena Tanasković, ex-director of “Serbian Railway Infrastructure” (under house arrest)
Ten of the accused remain in custody.
Additionally, on February 3, 2025, the Novi Sad Higher Prosecutor’s Office launched a corruption probe related to the railway station’s reconstruction.
The Serbian Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office (VJTS) later transferred the corruption case to the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (TOK) on February 12, 2025.
By February 24, 2025, the Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the arrest of S.K., an investment development manager at “Serbian Railway Infrastructure,” along with three others, on charges of corruption linked to the station’s collapse.
