A concrete roof above the doorway of a railway station within the northern Serbian metropolis of Novi Unhappy collapsed Friday, killing at the least 14 folks with extra feared buried underneath the rubble, officers stated.
Inside Minister Ivica Dacic stated that three folks have been rescued and hospitalized with critical accidents, and that the dying toll might rise additional. He stated that for these killed, “Loss of life occurred on the spot.”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed in a nationwide deal with that 14 folks had died, together with a six-year-old woman and a citizen of North Macedonia. Vucic stated 5 of the victims nonetheless had not been recognized.
The prepare station has been renovated twice lately, and critics of the authoritarian president attributed the catastrophe to corruption and sloppy renovations on the a part of his administration. Members of the opposition deliberate to protest in entrance of the station Saturday.
Warning: The video could also be disturbing to some viewers. CCTV footage posted on social media confirmed the second a concrete roof collapses on the entrance to a railway station within the northern Serbian metropolis of Novi Unhappy on Friday. A minimum of 14 folks have been killed, with extra feared buried underneath the rubble, officers stated.
Nonetheless, Vucic stated the cover had not been a part of the current renovations, and pledged to find out each the “political and felony duty” for the collapse.
Ambulances and different emergency groups have been dispatched to the downtown station and bulldozers have been eradicating the particles searching for survivors. Some 80 rescuers have been on the scene as heavy equipment eliminated massive elements of the rubble.
Surveillance digital camera footage confirmed folks transferring out and in of the constructing and sitting on benches on a brilliant, sunny day earlier than the concrete cover instantly collapsed.
Serbia’s authorities declared Saturday a day of mourning. Residents of Novi Unhappy have been lighting candles throughout the road from the railway station in an expression of grief for the misplaced lives.
“This can be a black Friday for us, for all of Serbia,” Prime Minister Milos Vucevic stated.
Vucevic stated the roof was inbuilt 1964 and that an investigation was underway to find out what occurred and who’s accountable for the tragedy.
The renovated station was inaugurated by Vucic and his populist ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, over two years in the past as a significant stopover for a deliberate quick prepare line between Belgrade and Budapest.
Serbia’s state railway firm stated the accident occurred at 11:50 a.m. native time. The corporate stated the construction above the station entrance was not touched in the course of the current renovations.
