site.btaSilent Protests Held Across Serbia to Honour Novi Sad Victims

Silent protests took place in several Serbian cities on Friday in memory of the 16 people who died in Novi Sad after a concrete canopy collapsed at the city’s railway station on November 1 last year.

Thousands of students and residents marched or gathered to pay tribute, with moments of silence, candle lighting, and commemorative ceremonies held throughout the country.

Several thousand students and citizens in Belgrade organized a protest march that began at the old railway station in the Serbian capital and moved through the central streets. Protesters observed 16 minutes of silence to honour the victims, as witnessed by a BTA correspondent.

Students in Novi Sad also planned a protest march in the late evening hours to the railway station, where residents paid their respects to those who died nine months ago by laying flowers and lighting candles, according to local media.

In Nis, protesters planted 16 trees at King Milan Square in memory of the victims and then proceeded to the local railway station.

On Friday evening, candles were placed in Kragujevac’s central square, in front of 16 mirrors inscribed with the message: “This could have been you or someone close to you.”

In Cacak and Zrenjanin, night-time protest marches were also held in remembrance of those who died in Novi Sad on November 1 last year. In many places across Serbia, students and citizens read out the names of the 16 victims or carried placards bearing their names.