Questions and mourning in Novi Sad

The tragedy at Novi Sad railway station in Vojvodina, where 14 people lost their lives when a canopy collapsed on 1 November, quickly disappeared from the foreign  media. Serbia, on the other hand, is still preoccupied with this disaster.

People are not only mourning the deaths and serious injuries (of the seventeen people who were under the canopy at the time of the collapse, only three survived and two of them had to have a leg amputated), but there is also an intensive search for a cause.

Many also see this in the political situation in Serbia, which in the opinion of many is characterised not only by an increasingly autocratic style of leadership but also by the fact that public contracts are awarded in a non-transparent manner and are probably also carried out improperly.

This is now also suspected with regard to the railway station in Novi Sad. This was renovated by a Chinese company between 2021 and 2022. The ceremonial opening took place in the presence of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, fittingly during the election campaign period. Surprisingly, construction work on the railway station resumed a few months later.

When media representatives enquired about the reasons for this and requested to see the contract documents, no detailed answers were given. Instead, it was pointed out that the company carrying out the work would only wish to have such an insight once the works had been fully accepted by the contract partner.

Some press reports also mention that the building permit cannot be found. This is significant, among other things, as it is disputed whether the canopy that collapsed was even included in the renovation work. President Vujic has denied this in a statement. However, images are circulating on the internet showing workers also working on the canopy. (see https://radar.nova.rs/drustvo/zeleznicka-stanica-novi-sad-nesreca-uzrok/)

When we were in Novi Sad during the construction work, the area around the canopy was at least fenced off. This can be seen in the background of a picture we took of the museum locomotive in front of the station.

This accident is seen by many as a further sign of the failure of the current government. The first demonstrations in Belgrade have already been announced. Slogans such as ‘How long will we light candles and remain silent’ (https://radar.nova.rs/drustvo/da-li-je-jos-nekog-sramota/) can also be seen.