Roof cave in at Serbian railway station kills a minimum of 14

NOVI SAD, Serbia (AP) — A concrete roof above the doorway of a railway station within the northern Serbian town of Novi Unhappy collapsed Friday, killing a minimum of 14 folks with extra feared buried underneath the rubble, officers mentioned.Internal Minister Ivica Dacic mentioned that 3 folks have been rescued and hospitalized with critical accidents, and that the demise toll may upward push additional. He mentioned that for the ones killed, “Demise passed off at the spot.” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic showed in a countrywide deal with that 14 folks had died, together with a 6-year-old lady and a citizen of North Macedonia. Vucic mentioned 5 of the sufferers nonetheless had now not been recognized.The teach station has been renovated two times in recent times, and critics of the authoritarian president attributed the crisis to corruption and sloppy renovations at the a part of his management. Individuals of the opposition deliberate to protest in entrance of the station Saturday.

On the other hand, Vucic mentioned the cover had now not been a part of the new renovations, and pledged to decide each the “political and felony duty” for the cave in.Ambulances and different emergency groups have been dispatched to the downtown station and bulldozers have been eliminating the particles in search of survivors. Some 80 rescuers have been on the scene as heavy equipment got rid of huge portions of the rubble.

Surveillance digicam pictures confirmed folks shifting out and in of the construction and sitting on benches on a shiny, sunny day prior to the concrete cover unexpectedly collapsed.

Serbia’s govt declared Saturday an afternoon of mourning. Citizens of Novi Unhappy have been lights candles around the side road from the railway station in an expression of grief for the misplaced lives. “It is a black Friday for us, for all of Serbia,” High Minister Milos Vucevic mentioned.Vucevic mentioned the roof used to be inbuilt 1964 and that an investigation used to be underway to decide what took place and who’s liable for the tragedy.

The renovated station used to be inaugurated by way of Vucic and his populist best friend, Hungarian High Minister Viktor Orbán, over two years in the past as a significant stopover for a deliberate speedy teach line between Belgrade and Budapest.Serbia’s state railway corporate mentioned the twist of fate took place at 11:50 a.m. native time. The corporate mentioned the construction above the station front used to be now not touched throughout the new renovations. —-AP writers Jovana Gec and Dusan Stojanovic contributed from Belgrade.