BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A concrete roof above the entrance of a railway station in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad collapsed Friday, killing at least eight people.
Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said that at least four other people were hospitalized with serious injuries, while rescuers established contact with two people still buried under piles of concrete.
Ambulances and other emergency teams were dispatched to the downtown station and bulldozers were removing the debris looking for survivors. Some 80 rescuers were at the scene as heavy machinery removed large parts of the rubble.
Surveillance camera footage showed people moving in and out of the building and sitting on benches on a bright, sunny day before the concrete canopy suddenly collapsed on them. The building was recently renovated.
Dacic said the rescue operation was “extremely hard” and that it would last for at least several more hours.
Prime Minister Milos Vucevic said “this is a black Friday for us, for all of Serbia.”
Vucevic said the roof was built in 1964 and an investigation was underway to determine what happened and who is responsible for the tragedy.
Serbia’s state railway company said the accident happened at 11:50 a.m. local time. The company said the construction that stands above the entrance into the station was not part of the reconstruction recently carried out on the station building.
