Practice station roof collapse in Serbia kills at the least 13

Rescuers work on the website the place the roof of a prepare station collapsed, killing a number of individuals, in Novi Unhappy, Serbia, on November 1, 2024. | Photograph credit score: Reuters

A concrete roof over the doorway to a railway station within the northern Serbian metropolis of Novi Unhappy collapsed on Friday, killing at the least 13 individuals and extra are feared buried beneath the rubble.

Inside Minister Ivica Dacic stated three individuals have been rescued and hospitalized with critical accidents and that he didn’t anticipate the dying toll to rise a lot increased.

“Once we had eight victims, we realized that there have been 5 extra individuals beneath the rubble who we couldn’t decide in the event that they have been alive or useless,” Dacic instructed reporters.

He stated they confirmed no indicators of life.

“Dying occurred immediately,” added Dacic.

Ambulances and different emergency groups have been despatched to the downtown station and excavators have been clearing the rubble seeking survivors. About 80 rescuers have been on the scene whereas heavy equipment eliminated a lot of the particles.

Surveillance digicam footage confirmed individuals coming into and exiting the constructing and sitting on benches on a shiny, sunny day earlier than the concrete cover immediately collapsed. The constructing was not too long ago renovated.

Dacic stated the rescue operation was “extraordinarily robust” and would final a number of extra hours.

The Serbian authorities declared November 2 a day of mourning. Residents of Novi Unhappy lit candles in entrance of the prepare station in mourning for the lives misplaced.

Prime Minister Milos Vucevic stated: “This can be a black Friday for us, for all of Serbia.”

Vucevic stated the roof was inbuilt 1964 and an investigation was underway to find out what occurred and who’s answerable for the tragedy.

The renovated station was inaugurated greater than two years in the past by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his populist ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, as an necessary cease for the deliberate quick prepare line between Belgrade and Budapest.

Serbia’s state railway firm stated the accident occurred at 11:50 a.m. native time. The corporate stated the construction over the station entrance was not touched throughout the current renovation.