Students and Other Citizens Again Pay Silent Tribute to Victims of Novi Sad Accident on Dec. 26

Student protest in Novi Sad (BETAPHOTO/DRAGAN GOJIC)

Students and other citizens in a number of Serbian cities on Dec. 26 again held silent 15-minute demonstrations to honor the 15 people who died after the collapse of a part of the main railway station structure in Novi Sad on Nov. 1.

In Belgrade, several hundred students blocked traffic in King Alexander Boulevard, near engineering school buildings, at the symbolic time of 11:52 a.m., which is the time when the concrete overhang at the Novi Sad railway station collapsed. The protesters carried signs reading, "The Elusive Winter of '24," a reference to a well-known Yugoslav film featuring student protests, "Knowledge is a pillar of society," and "Students - the reinforcing steel of society."

In Novi Sad, several hundred students blocked the intersection of Liberation Boulevard and Czar Lazar Boulevard, near the Promenada shopping mall. The student Branislav Djordjevic announced that the students would assemble in front of the Novi Sad Assembly on Dec. 30, when a city budget session is due to take place after multiple postponements.

He went on to say that the regime was "scared of the students," who have announced they would come to the City Assembly session, which prompted the multiple postponements. Students in Nis also paid tribute to the victims of the Novi Sad railway station accident.