Students Mark Two Years Since Station Collapse

Thousands of students and supporters marched through the rain in Novi Sad on Sunday, November 1, 2026, to mark the second anniversary of a concrete canopy collapse that killed 16 people. The ceremony took place exactly two years after the disaster, which sparked a sustained anti-corruption movement that eventually toppled the government of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

The collapse occurred on November 1, 2024, at 11:52 a.m. when a large concrete structure at the front wall of the railway station fell without warning. Fourteen people died at the scene, and two others later succumbed to their injuries. A young woman survived with life-changing injuries. The station renovation was part of a larger railway reconstruction project involving China and Hungary. Vucic and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban toured the completed station in 2022.

Participants carried 16 wreaths and 16 red hearts to the station, one for each victim. The names of the dead, including children, were inscribed on the tributes. A moment of silence was observed, and state television broadcast the event for the first time since the election. A student speaker addressed the crowd, stating that the incident was a murder demanding accountability and that the younger generation would build a more just society.

Many in Serbia attribute the structural failure to flawed renovation work driven by corruption and negligence within state infrastructure projects. An independent expert group concluded that the work was rushed under political orders. Their report cited a systematic degradation of construction standards and stated that the state of Serbia violated its citizens' right to life. Authorities initially claimed the canopy had not been renovated, a statement that fueled immediate public outrage.

The student movement, now in power following last Sunday's parliamentary election, has demanded a review of stalled high-profile investigations. Thirteen individuals were previously charged in the canopy case, including a government minister, but no trial occurred while the probe was under the previous administration's control. The Students' List defeated Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party, which had ruled for 14 years and controlled all state institutions.

On the same day as the memorial, prosecutors ordered the 48-hour detention of Marko Kricak, Vucic's chief of criminal police. Kricak and another senior officer were detained on suspicion of abuse of office in connection with a murder investigation. Kricak faced additional accusations of orchestrating violence during student protests and threatening a female student with rape, allegations he has denied. Andreas von Beckerath, head of the EU mission in Serbia, wrote on X that the collapse shook the country and moved citizens to demand transparency.

Commemoration ceremonies were held in other cities across Serbia. The student movement has promised to restore the rule of law and remove the graft they say flourished during Vucic's tenure. The anniversary marked a shift in public sentiment, with participants expressing hope that those responsible for the disaster will finally face punishment.