Outrage over the Novi Sad station tragedy prompted Serbia to make the first arrests.

The arrests followed three weeks of protests demanding justice after the fatal collapse of part of a railway station in Serbia’s second city.

Prosecutors have ordered the questioning of 11 people in connection with the disaster at the recently renovated facility in Novi Sad.

Earlier this month, 15 people were killed when a concrete and glass roof collapsed.

Novi Sad has been in a state of decided fury ever since.

More than 20,000 people took to its streets and squares during a demonstration – the largest the city has seen in decades.

The participants are using the slogan “kill corruption”.

They claim that the opaque procurement procedures the government has used for infrastructure projects have enriched a few favored contractors while endangering public safety.

Former Minister of Construction of Serbia is also among those arrested.

Gornveske resigned after the canopy collapsed at the recently renovated station. But he denied any allegation.

“I cannot accept guilt for the death,” he said as he announced he was standing down, “because I, and the people who work with me, do not take responsibility for this tragedy”.

Prosecutors seem to be taking a different approach. They say they are investigating “criminal acts against public safety”.

Wesk, however, is keen to portray himself as a cooperative witness rather than a suspected criminal.

“I voluntarily answered the call of the police officers with whom I came to Novi Sad and made myself available to the investigating authorities,” he posted on social media.

The arrests followed a televised address on Tuesday in which Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić warned of consequences for those responsible for the disaster.

He said that 15 people died not because of their mistake but because someone did not do their job properly.

The problem for President Vučić is that he has attached himself too closely to the Novi Sad railway station. It is a key stop on the government’s major infrastructure project – the high-speed line from Belgrade to Budapest.

Vucic inaugurated the station in 2022 with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

“This is our path to a modern Europe – our path to a better, progressive Serbia,” he told the BBC at the time.

Rebuilding continued at the station after the opening – and there was another opening this summer.

There was heavy symbolism surrounding the station’s destruction this month, as well as the high cost in human lives.

Serbia’s opposition parties have been quick to attack President Vučić and his Progressive Party government, arguing that a culture of nepotism and impunity is behind the lifting of the umbrella.

“People’s slogan is that we are all under this umbrella called Serbia – it can fall wherever you are,” says Biljana Djordjevic, co-leader of the Green Left Front.

“The Progressive Party bases their power on the claim that they are building the country – and that it raises the standard of living. If people now feel insecure about that, then their policy is wrong. goes

Protesters are unlikely to be satisfied with today’s arrests.

They have consistently called for the resignations of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic – the former mayor of Novi Sad – and incumbent Milan Juric.

If the judicial process can find a quick and reliable answer, it can calm the crowd.

Otherwise, President Vucic and the government could be in for a bumpy ride.