Large crowds converge in Novi Sad to commemorate deadly accident that has led to frequent mass antigovernment protests.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tens of thousands of people are converging on the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad for a commemoration of the victims of a tragedy a year ago that killed 16 people.<\/p>\n Regular student-led protests have gripped Serbia since the collapse of the canopy at the newly renovated railway station in the country\u2019s second largest city on November 1, 2024, which became a symbol of entrenched corruption.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.<\/p>\n Students, who called for the \u201clargest commemorative gathering\u201d on Saturday, and others, have been pouring into Novi Sad since Friday, arriving by car, bicycle, or on foot.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Residents of Novi Sad took to the streets to greet the marchers, blowing whistles and waving flags, many visibly moved.<\/p>\n Dijana Hrka\u2019s 27-year-old son was among the victims.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I want to know is who killed my child so I can have a little peace, so that I don\u2019t keep going through hell,\u201d she told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n Hrka added: \u201cI am looking for justice. I want no other mother to go through what I am going through.\u201d<\/p>\n The protests over the station\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Vucic 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.<\/p>\n But in a televised public address on Friday, Vucic made a rare gesture and apologised for saying things that, he said, he now regretted.<\/p>\n \u201cThis applies both to students and to protesters, as well as to others with whom I disagreed. I apologise for that,\u201d Vucic said and called for dialogue.<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s commemorative rally at the Novi Sad railway station will start at 11:52am (10:52 GMT), the time when the tragedy occurred, with 16 minutes of silence observed for 16 victims.<\/p>\n Thirteen people, including former construction minister Goran Vesic, were charged in a criminal case over the collapse.<\/p>\n A separate anticorruption probe continues alongside a European Union-backed investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds in the project.<\/p>\n The government has declared Saturday a day of national mourning while the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), Patriarch Porfirije, is to serve a mass for the victims at the Belgrade Saint Sava church.<\/p>\n \u201cOn this sad anniversary, we appeal to everyone \u2026 to act with restraint, to de-escalate tensions and to avoid violence,\u201d the EU delegation in Serbia said in a statement.<\/p>\n Aleksandar Popov, a Serbian political analyst, told Al Jazeera that \u201csky-high\u201d corruption is a major issue in the country that needs to be addressed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not talking about tens of millions of euros, but hundreds of millions of euros spun through large infrastructure projects, perhaps billions of euros,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis government and the president have captured all key institutions of state, like the judiciary,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Large crowds converge in Novi Sad to commemorate deadly accident that has led to frequent mass antigovernment protests. Tens of thousands of people are converging on the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad for a commemoration of the victims of a tragedy a year ago that killed 16 people. Regular student-led protests have gripped Serbia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
![\"Flowers](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-11-01T063956Z_1147979859_RC2INHALB2YP_RTRMADP_3_SERBIA-PROTESTS-NOVI-SAD-1761983442.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
\u2018I am looking for justice\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Sky high\u2019 corruption<\/h2>\n
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