Third day of mourning in Vojvodina, death toll climbs to 14, 3 injured people still in critical condition

The scene of the accident; Photo: Tanjug/Nenad Mihajlovic

Today is the third day of mourning observed in Serbia's northern Vojvodina province, in honoro of `the 14 victims of a partial collapse of the entrance to the Novi Sad railway station, that happened on Friday.

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Three people who got injured are still in critical condition. The prosecution has questioned 40 people.

About 600 young people have donated blood for the first time in Novi Sad over the weekend, in order to help those injured in these most difficult moments. And the employees of the Institute in Novi Sad worked until the last donor was accepted. People were lining up to donate blood.

Help was immediately offered by colleagues from Belgrade as well.

Mirjana Knezevic from the Institute for Blood Transfusion told RTS that in two days 600 people donated blood in Belgrade. There were, she says, several campaigns during which those who donated blood for the first time also responded.

Colleagues in Novi Sad were assisted with additional blood testing.

"Our leadership was in contact immediately and Belgrade of course provided support. At the Institute for Blood Transfusion, molecular testing is done and it is the only place (in Serbia) where it is done. So when the samples come from all the centers, the tests are carried out. The institute worked all night on Friday and Saturday, all day yesterday in order to do the necessary tests as soon as possible," said Mirjana Knezevic.

Today is the third day of mourning declared in Vojvodina after the accident at the railway station in Novi Sad, in which 14 people were killed. Three of the injured are still in critical condition.

Families have started laying the victims to rest, while citizens bring flowers and light candles tp pay their respects.

Meanwhile, the responsibility for the collapse of a part of the railway station building (the entrance eaves that had not been renovated since the 1960s) is being determined.

By Sunday, the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad had interviewed 40 people, among them Serbian Minister of Construction Goran Vesic, the director of the Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments in Novi Sad, the responsible persons from Serbian Railways and Serbian Railway Infrastructure companies, and those responsible for construction works at the station.

The documentation from the Ministry of Construction, which will be handed over to experts for further analyses, had been excluded.

(Telegraf.rs/RTS)