NOVI SAD, Serbia –
Serbian rescuers stopped trying to find survivors on Saturday after pulling out 14 our bodies from beneath tons of concrete from a fallen cover on the entrance of a railway station within the northern metropolis of Novi Unhappy.
Serbia’s authorities declared Saturday a day of mourning as officers promised an intensive investigation into Friday’s collapse of the roof that fell on folks sitting under it. The lifeless included a 6-year-old woman from North Macedonia whereas three folks have been critically injured, Inside Minister Ivica Dacic mentioned.
The prepare station has been renovated twice lately, and critics of Serbia’s populist authorities attributed the catastrophe to corruption and sloppy renovations. Members of the opposition deliberate to protest in entrance of the station in a while Saturday.
Officers have insisted that the cover had not been a part of the renovation work. Goran Vesic, the federal government minister for building and infrastructure, informed the state RTS tv the tragedy wouldn’t have occurred had the cover been renovated as nicely.
Authorities deployed heavy equipment and a few 80 rescuers who struggled for hours to take away giant components of concrete that crashed simply earlier than midday Friday. The rescue effort lasted till late Friday night.
Residents of Novi Unhappy lit candles and held a vigil for the victims on the web site. Many responded to a name to donate blood.
Surveillance digicam footage on Friday confirmed folks shifting out and in of the constructing and sitting on benches on a vibrant, sunny day earlier than the concrete cover instantly collapsed.
The railway station, together with the cover, was in-built 1964. The renovation work was carried out by Chinese language corporations.
The renovated station was inaugurated by President Aleksandar Vucic and his populist ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, over two years in the past as a significant stopover for a deliberate quick prepare line between Belgrade and Budapest.
