Mourners lit candles for the dead and injured overnight on November 1-2 following the collapse of a concrete canopy in front of the main train station that killed at least 14 people in Serbia's second-largest city, Novi Sad, as authorities seek answers to the cause of the tragedy.
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Serbia Mourns Victims Of Roof Collapse
Officials at the University Clinical Center of Vojvodina (UKCV) said at least three more injured victims are in serious condition as a result of the incident, which comes just months after the station was reopened following three years of reconstruction.
Victims were pulled from under the concrete debris through the day on November 1 after the unexplained collapse. Authorities reportedly did not expect to find more victims on November 2.
Serbia's government has declared November 2 a day of mourning, and the northern region of Novi Sad has declared three days of mourning.
Some reports said the victims included a 6-year-old girl from North Macedonia, but RFE/RL could not initially confirm the identities of those who died.
The director of the University Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Vesna Turkulov, told Serbia's state broadcaster that three of the injured had been operated on but were still in life-threatening condition.
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At Least 13 Killed After Railway Station Roof Collapses In Serbia
The Novi Sad railway station was originally built in 1964 but recently underwent a major renovation. Serbian Railways insisted that work did not include the concrete overhang that fell, but some experts disputed that.
Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure Minister Goran Vesic, a member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), said an investigation is under way into the cause of the collapse.
"It will be determined why the canopy was not part of the reconstruction plan and who determined that it did not require reconstruction," Vesic said.
Some industry participants who worked at the site and other experts said many questions remained to be answered.
Geological engineer Zoran Djajic, who worked on the reconstruction of the railway station building until June 2023 as a stone consultant, told RFE/RL that the canopy was, in fact, part of the reconstruction plan and that added weight appeared to have been placed on it during the work.
"There is documentation that scaffolding was put up, that work was done on the canopy from the scaffolding. Because of the work that was done, added loads were placed on the canopy. The counterweights did not hold up under that load and the canopy fell and, unfortunately, killed so many people," Djajic said.
Architect Ana Ferik Ivanovic, who is president of the Association of Architects of Novi Sad, also said she believes work was done on the canopy.
"I believe that a total reconstruction was carried out there, that the canopy was also part of [it]," said Ferik Ivanovic, who was not involved in the project herself.
She added that among the materials removed from the area after the collapse, new elements -- such as glass -- were seen that were not on the canopy before the reconstruction project.
She said greater transparency was required in such projects.
"We, as a wider, professional public, should have an insight into what is being done in general. We knew that the railway station was being reconstructed, but we had no knowledge of whether it was being reconstructed in its entirety, and whether only the interior was being renovated," she said.
Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic said the country was "deeply shaken by the tragedy" and that the government would "insist on finding those responsible, those who should have ensured the structure's safety."
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said one of those dead was a citizen of neighboring North Macedonia but did not reveal the identities of any of the victims.