Belgrade: Thousands Demand Justice As General Strike Grips Serbia

Students block more than 60 faculties and two university headquarters on January 24 in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.

They are demanding both criminal and political accountability for the collapse of a reconstructed concrete canopy at the Novi Sad central railway station that killed 15 people.

Protesters marked 15 minutes of silence to remember each person killed in the railway station collapse.

Calling for a general strike, they urged citizens to refrain from going to work, shopping, or making any other financial transactions.
 

Some shops posted signs accusing authorities of having blood on their hands.

Protesters wore T-shirts and holding signs with messages accusing the authorities of being responsible for the deadly incident.

More than 200 companies across Serbia announced they had suspended operations on January 24 in solidarity with the students.

Cinema Cineplexx, which runs theaters across Serbia, joined the students' call for a general strike.

"No chocolate during the strike day," read a sign on the closed doors of the pastry shop in Belgrade.

A Belgrade bookstore was among the shops that closed.