Police in Serbia have made widespread arrests in the case involving the tragedy at the Novi Sad railway station, where 16 people were killed when a roof fell on November 1, 2024.

Six people have been arrested so far, including Tomilsav Momirovic, the Minister of Construction and Infrastructure from 2020-2022. Momirovic was arrested at Belgrade airport shortly before boarding a flight abroad, Serbian media reported.

Police tried to arrest another former minister, Goran Vesic, but he was not at his home. It was reported today that Vēsic was rushed to the hospital last night and underwent surgery. Vēsic held the portfolio of the Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure from 2022 until mid-November 2024 when he resigned due to the train station tragedy.

Thedeputy minister of the same ministry was also arrested as well as executives of companies involved in the reconstruction-renovation of the railway station.

The tragedy occurred three months after the completion of the station’s reconstruction work.

The arrests were ordered by the general prosecutor’s office for organized crime, which is investigating possible corruption in the reconstruction of the railway network from Belgrade to the border with Hungary.

The prosecutor’s statement said the arrested persons, as well as five other wanted persons, are suspected of “financial irregularities to gain personal benefits”. It is also stated that their actions caused $115 million in budget damage.

The deaths of 16 people at the Novi Sad railway station have caused a storm of reaction. Students demanding political and criminal accountability are protesting, keeping public university campuses on lockdown from November 2024.

Today, to mark the nine-month anniversary of the tragedy, rallies will be held in Novi Sad and all major Serbian cities to commemorate and pay tribute to the victims.