Serbian railway station roof collapse in Novi Sad leaves 14 dead

The collapse of a 35-metre (115-foot) length of roofing occurred at noon (1100 GMT) on a sunny day in the city about 70 km (40 miles) northwest of the capital, Belgrade.

Bodies were pulled from the rubble throughout the afternoon and into evening.

“Our windows were open as it was warm outside and I heard a huge rumble and saw a plume of dust, that’s all I saw. Later I heard what happened,” said Vera, an 86-year-old pensioner who lives about 200 meters (yards) away.

Earlier in the afternoon rescuers freed two women who had been trapped under the rubble. They were in critical condition, said Vesna Turkulov, the head of the Vojvodina medical centre where they were taken.

The search and rescue operation was complicated by the sheer weight of the concrete and was expected to continue through the night, said Luka Causic who heads the interior ministry’s centre for emergency management.

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic told Tanjug news agency earlier he did not expect the death toll to rise significantly.