A concrete roof above the doorway of a railway station within the northern Serbian metropolis of Novi Unhappy collapsed Friday, killing at the very least eight individuals.
Inside Minister Ivica Dacic stated that at the very least 4 different individuals have been hospitalized with critical accidents, whereas rescuers have established contact with two individuals, together with a woman, who’re nonetheless buried beneath piles of concrete, the BBC reported.
“I thank the rescuers, policemen, medical doctors, technicians and nurses who’re combating for each life, and to avoid wasting individuals beneath the ruins,” Dacic stated in a social media publish. “They’re combating a superhuman battle.”
Ambulances and different emergency groups had been dispatched to the downtown station and bulldozers had been eradicating the particles on the lookout for survivors.
NENAD MIHAJLOVIC/AFP through Getty Photos
Surveillance digital camera footage confirmed individuals transferring out and in of the constructing and sitting on benches on a vivid and sunny day earlier than the concrete construction instantly collapsed on them. The constructing was just lately renovated.
Dacic stated the rescue operation was “extraordinarily exhausting” and that it might final for at the very least a number of extra hours.
Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic stated “it is a black Friday for us, for all of Serbia.”
Vucevic stated that the roof was inbuilt 1964 and an investigation is underway to find out what occurred and who’s answerable for the tragedy.
Footage posted on social media confirmed a number of ambulances and fireplace engines on the scene exterior of the practice station. Two excavators is also seen digging by way of the pile of rubble.
The Novi Unhappy Railway Station reopened in July after three years of renovation work. Building work was nonetheless ongoing in elements of the station.
A high-speed rail connection between Novi Unhappy and the capital Belgrade opened in March 2022.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.