Serbia‘s public prosecutor on Monday indicted 13 people, including former Transport Minister Goran Vesic, in connection with a fatal railway roof collapse in November.
Fifteen people were killed in the incident, which took place at the entrance of a train station in the northern city of Novi Sad.
There has been a high degree of public outrage following the incident, with students and opposition supporters taking to the streets to demand justice.
Suspicion of ‘a serious offense against general safety’
“The indictment was brought … due to justified suspicion that they have committed a serious offense against general safety, … caused general danger … and (for) irregular and improper construction works,” the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad said in a statement.
The indictment has to be confirmed by a court to become valid.
The prosecutor called for the suspects to be detained pending the proceedings against them.
What happened at Novi Sad station?
On November 1, a hanging section of the roof crumbled and fell on bystanders at the busy station in Serbia’s second-largest city.
The station had been under renovation on and off for 11 years, with a consortium of Chinese, French, and Hungarian companies responsible for the construction.
Vesic resigned three days later and sought to position himself as a witness rather than a guilty party, denying any wrongdoing.
The lack of arrests or apologies prompted weeks of angry protests, with tens of thousands of residents talking to the streets.
kb/nm (AP, AFP)
