"Blood sticks to the hands" - they took to the streets in Belgrade because of the tragedy in Novi Sad.
As we wrote, the roof of the railway station collapsed in Újvidék, as a result of which 14 people died, including a six-year-old child. Now, Zoran Đajić, a consultant at the CIP Transportation Institute, told N1 that instead of concrete, "crumpled cement bags" were placed behind one of the facade panels in order to use less concrete.
The youngest of the 14 victims of the Novi Sad tragedy was six years old
As he said
"in the first stage, the ceramic covering on the ceiling was repaired, but only 'cosmetics' was done on the roof. In the second phase, during the renovation of the facade, I sent a report to the contractors in March, in which I requested the removal of the marble slabs on the facade, the repair of the subfloor, and the installation of new marble slabs, as required by the project."
Đajić told N1.
According to Đajić, weights were placed on the facade of the building to support the canopy from the roof. If the facade panels had been removed, it is likely that the substrate would have been found to be inadequate and the weights possibly showing signs of corrosion. Đajić added that instead of replacing or strengthening the facade panels, the contractor only repainted them. In addition, he pointed out that the canopy was covered with glass, although according to the plans, this part would have remained open.
"Whoever decided on the glass cover should have checked the static calculations and the load capacity"
he added. According to Đajić, the minister is primarily responsible, and Vesić should resign.
Đajić said that he went public because he felt it was his duty to take responsibility for the victims. He admits that "perhaps he should have stood up more firmly" for his comments.
“I've made offers and sent reports to 20 different addresses, but I haven't heard back from any of them”
he declared.
Regarding the incident, the Serbian Railway Infrastructure and the Chinese CRIC-CCCC consortium indicated in a statement that the canopy was not included in the renovation project, which only covered the interior, roof and facade.
"Blood sticks to the hands" - they took to the streets in Belgrade because of the tragedy in Novi Sad
A large crowd gathered on Szava Square in Belgrade on Sunday and marched together to the building of the Ministry of Construction to protest after Friday's tragedy at the Novi Sad train station, Serbian N1 reported. In front of the Ministry of Construction, police stand in line with the protesters, who painted their hands red as a sign of protest and wrote several messages on the walls with red paint.
• "Blood sticks to the hands";
• "They protect murderers";
• "This is a crime, not a tragedy";
• "If you are looking for responsible people, look in the mirror!"
- among other things, these sentences can be read on the messages painted by the demonstrators, and these words are chanted by the crowd.
Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Serbian Public Works Development Minister Goran Vesics after the roof structure collapsed at the Novi Sad railway station, killing 14 people.
Featured image: Demonstrators holding up red-painted palms protest and demand arrests in Belgrade on November 3, 2024. Two days earlier, the canopy above the entrance of the part of the train station in Novi Sad that was awaiting renovation came off. The death toll from the collapse rose to fourteen, and thirty were injured.
MTI/EPA/Andrej Cukic
