Tens of thousands of people have marked the first anniversary of a train station roof collapse in the Serbian city of Novi Sad, observing 16 minutes of silence for the 16 victims of the tragedy.
At 11:52am (10:52 GMT), the time when the incident occurred on November 1, 2024, the large crowd stood in silence outside the railway station on Saturday.
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“You could hear a pin drop, it was totally silent for 16 minutes,” Al Jazeera’s Milena Veselinovic reported from the scene.
She said that the mood was “incredibly sombre” at the event, stressing that the protesters’ aim was both to commemorate the victims but also demand accountability.
“A year on from this disaster, no one has been tried,” said Veselinovic.
Thirteen people, including former construction minister Goran Vesic, were charged in a criminal case over the collapse, but they have not been tried yet.
“Within the Serbian legal system, those charges still need to be confirmed by a higher court – that hasn’t happened and people here don’t have much faith system in the system that any trial will happen any time soon,” said Veselinovic. “They blame the government and they blame corruption.”
A separate anticorruption probe continues alongside a European Union-backed investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds in the project.
Regular student-led protests have gripped Serbia since the collapse of the canopy at the newly renovated railway station in the country’s second largest city, which became a symbol of entrenched corruption.
Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.
Students, who called for the “largest commemorative gathering” on Saturday, and others, have been pouring into Novi Sad since Friday, arriving by car, bicycle, or on foot.
Thousands marched from Belgrade for some 100km (62 miles) and other parts of the country, including Novi Pazar, about 340km (210 miles) south of the capital. It took them 16 days to finish the march.
Residents of Novi Sad took to the streets to greet the marchers, blowing whistles and waving flags, many visibly moved.
Police said 39,000 people rallied in the city, but according to journalists with the AFP news agency present at the scene and aerial images the crowd appeared to be significantly larger, at around 100,000.
After speeches, a choir performance, and a walk through central Novi Sad, thousands lined the bank of the Danube river on Saturday evening to offer the day’s last tribute to the victims.
The rally ended with 16 minutes of silence, during which 16 lanterns were released from boats.
On the Petrovaradin Fortress across the Danube, a giant banner was unfurled, reading: “See you tomorrow and every other day until there is justice”.
‘I am looking for justice’
Dijana Hrka’s 27-year-old son was among the victims.
“What I want to know is who killed my child so I can have a little peace, so that I don’t keep going through hell,” she told Al Jazeera.
Hrka added: “I am looking for justice. I want no other mother to go through what I am going through.”
The protests over the station’s collapse have led to the resignation of the prime minister, the fall of his government and the formation of a new one. But nationalist President Aleksandar Vucic has remained defiantly in office.
Vucic has denied accusations and regularly labelled demonstrators as foreign-funded coup plotters, while members of his SNS party pushed conspiracy theories, claiming that the train station roof collapse may have been an orchestrated attack.
But in a televised public address on Friday, Vucic made a rare gesture and apologised for saying things that, he said, he now regretted.
“This applies both to students and to protesters, as well as to others with whom I disagreed. I apologise for that,” Vucic said and called for dialogue.
‘Sky high’ corruption
The government declared Saturday a day of national mourning while the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), Patriarch Porfirije, presided over a memorial service for the victims at the Belgrade Saint Sava church.
It was attended by several hundred people, including government ministers and Vucic. Several thousand others gathered in front of the church and lit candles for the victims.
“On this sad anniversary, we appeal to everyone … to act with restraint, to de-escalate tensions and to avoid violence,” the EU delegation in Serbia said in a statement.
Aleksandar Popov, a Serbian political analyst, told Al Jazeera that “sky-high” corruption is a major issue in the country that needs to be addressed.
“We’re not talking about tens of millions of euros, but hundreds of millions of euros spun through large infrastructure projects, perhaps billions of euros,” he said.
“This government and the president have captured all key institutions of state, like the judiciary,” he added.
The EU’s enlargement commissioner Marta Kos posted on X that the “tragedy is changing Serbia”.
“It moved masses to stand for accountability, free expression and inclusive democracy. They are the same values to lead Serbia into the EU.”
Serbia is formally seeking to join the EU, but the accession process has been stalled because Vucic has nurtured close ties with Russia and China, while being accused of clamping down on democratic freedoms.
The protests have remained largely peaceful, but, in mid-August, they degenerated into violence that protesters blamed on heavy-handed tactics by government loyalists and police.
