BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra said four of its musicians were injured Friday in an incident during a weekly 15-minute traffic blockade commemorating the 15 people who died when a concrete canopy collapsed at a railway station in a northern Serbian city last month. The traffic blockades have been held every Friday […]
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Car rams and injures orchestral musicians in Belgrade during a protest over station roof collapse
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BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra said four of its musicians were injured Friday in an incident during a weekly 15-minute traffic blockade commemorating the 15 people who died when a concrete canopy collapsed at a railway station in a northern Serbian city last month.
The traffic blockades have been held every Friday in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, and other cities and towns since the fall of the concrete construction in Novi Sad on Nov. 1.
Hundreds also took part in protests this Friday at various locations throughout the country, standing in silence to commemorate the victims and demanding accountability for their deaths.
Some members of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra joined a traffic blockade at a pedestrian crossing near their place of work on Friday, a statement said. A man refused to stop and drove his car through the protesters, hurting the musicians, the statement added.
Serbian media said police arrested a 67-year-old man from the northern town of Kikinda. The musicians received medical care, reports said.
The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra “most harshly condemns the act of violence against them (musicians) while they were expressing their personal civic opinion,” the orchestra said. It cancelled a scheduled performance on Friday evening.
Serbian university students have joined the protests in recent days, organizing 24-hour blockades at their faculties. Hundreds came out on Friday to halt traffic on busy streets in Belgrade and elsewhere.
Rallies in past weeks have occasionally been marred by violent incidents when pro-government supporters showed up and tried to disrupt the protesters blocking traffic.
The railway station building in Novi Sad was renovated twice in recent years. Many in Serbia believe rampant corruption and opaque deals resulted in sloppy work and led to the collapse of the canopy.
While prosecutors have announced the arrests of 13 people, a Serbian court has since released from detention former government construction minister Goran Vesic. This has fueled widespread skepticism of the ongoing investigation, as the ruling populists control both the police and judiciary.