Novi Sad Students Mark Two Years Since Train Station Collapse

Thousands of students and supporters gathered in the northern city of Novi Sad on Sunday to mark the second anniversary of a train station disaster that killed 16 people. The memorial took place in steady rain, with participants observing a moment of silence and laying flowers at the site of the collapse.

The concrete canopy crashed on Nov. 1, 2024, at 11:52 a.m., crushing people waiting for trains. Fourteen individuals died at the scene, and two others later succumbed to their injuries. A young woman survived with life-altering injuries. The tragedy sparked a two-year campaign for accountability that culminated in the recent parliamentary elections where the student-backed list defeated the ruling Serbian Progressive Party.

Students brought 16 wreaths and 16 red hearts to the station building, one for each victim. The names inscribed on the wreaths included those of children. Attendees lit candles and placed flowers in a quiet ceremony, a shift from the massive crowds that gathered for the first anniversary in 2025.

Many Serbians attribute the collapse to flawed renovation work driven by corruption and negligence. The station project was part of a larger railway reconstruction involving China and Hungary. President Aleksandar Vucic and his ally, former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, visited the renewed station in 2022. An independent expert panel later found that political pressure had rushed the work, describing a "systematic degradation of construction standards" that violated citizens' right to life.

Following the election victory last Sunday, the new student-led government has demanded a review of stalled investigations. Thirteen people were previously charged in the case, including a government minister, but no trial had been held. On Sunday, prosecutors ordered the 48-hour detention of Marko Kricak, Vucic's chief of criminal police, and another senior officer. They face suspicion of abuse of office in a murder investigation.

Kricak is also accused of orchestrating violence during earlier protests and threatening a female student with rape, charges he has denied. The head of the European Union mission in Serbia, Andreas von Beckerath, wrote on social media that the collapse shook the country and moved citizens to demand transparency.

State television, RTS, broadcast the memorial service on Sunday. This marked a change from last year, as officials at the station recently resigned following the election. Commemoration ceremonies were also held in other cities across Serbia, extending the observance beyond the epicenter in Novi Sad.

The student movement, which promised to restore democracy and root out graft after the SNS party controlled state institutions for 14 years, continues to push for justice. A student speaker at Sunday's event called the disaster a murder that demanded accountability, vowing that young people would build a more just society.