Serbia marks two years since Novi Sad station collapse as student list wins election

Commemoration in the rain

Thousands of people gathered in Novi Sad on Sunday, 1 November, under steady rain, to mark two years since a concrete canopy collapsed at the city's railway station. The collapse killed 16 people, among them two sisters aged six and ten. Students led a silent march toward the station, carrying 16 wreaths, one for each victim. Residents kept arriving at the site through the day to lay flowers, light candles and place hearts bearing the names of the dead. Organisers had planned a central memorial gathering with a 16-minute silence and had banned whistles and vuvuzelas.

Grief and the wait for justice

Dijana Hrka, whose 27-year-old son died in the collapse, has become a symbol of the protests. At the station she said returning there is painful.

“It is hard to go back to the place where everything happened.”

Each visit, she said, was harder than the last.

“And every time, it gets harder and harder.”

Hrka also said that the support of ordinary people had given her hope, and that no one has yet been held responsible for her son's death.

From the collapse to the streets

The canopy fell only three months after renovation works at the station were completed, and the disaster quickly became a public demand for accountability. Protests spread across the country, led by students, with road blockades and 16-minute silences held at intersections in memory of the dead. Their central demand was a full investigation into how the collapse happened and the assignment of criminal and political responsibility. Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned in January 2025 under social pressure. In March 2025, hundreds of thousands of people took part in one of the largest anti-government rallies in Belgrade in decades.

Election result

The student movement took political form as the Studentska lista, a list built around academics, scientists and cultural figures with a focus on cleaning up corruption and ensuring transparency in public works. In early parliamentary elections held on 25 October 2026, the list won strong support and ended 14 years of rule by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). BBC Serbian describes Aleksandar Vučić as a recently former president whose government was replaced. The vote came a week before the anniversary, and students returned for the commemoration to the place where the first protests had erupted.

Accountability and open cases

The Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime has opened a wide investigation into corruption in the construction sector. Several state officials have been accused over the collapse, among them former construction minister Goran Vesić. No trial over the collapse has formally begun. BBC Serbian notes that responsibility for the 16 deaths remains unresolved.