BELGRADE -- Tens of thousands of people jammed the streets of central Belgrade, the largest in a wave of student-led demonstrations demanding Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's government be held accountable for a deadly canopy collapse at a railway station in November.
Protesters skirmished with riot police at several locations in Belgrade late March 15, throwing fireworks and bottles. No arrests were reported immediately.
Earlier, flag-waving demonstrators gathered at several locations and converged outside parliament, in what appeared to be one of the country's biggest protests in decades. Speakers later addressed the crowd at a square hundreds of meters away.
"Look how many of us there are," one student told protesters. "Let your voice wake up Serbia."
Participants had streamed into the capital from across the country on foot, bicycles, and motorcycles ahead of the demonstration. Supporters and fellow protesters, including students from Belgrade, laid out a red carpet and cheered as people entered the city center.
The atmosphere among protesters was upbeat, but security was tight and there were scattered incidents of violence ahead of the main rally.
The November 1 collapse of the canopy at the railway station in the northern town of Novi Sad has led to what may be the biggest challenge yet to Vucic's political power. Fifteen people were killed.
At a news conference a day earlier, Vucic said he had asked police to show restraint but that "those who endanger peace will be arrested."
Drone footage shows thousands of protesters converging in Belgrade on March 15.
Student protests over the accident have evolved into a broader movement opposing what demonstrators say is the crumbling rule of law and systemic corruption under Vucic, the president since 2017 and prime minister for three years before that.
Student protesters have been demonstrating and blocking their university departments for over three months. Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to demonstrate in over 200 cities and towns.
SEE ALSO: At Serbian Protests, 'Generation Vucic' Finds Its VoiceLjiljana Kovacevic, a teacher from the northern town of Vrbas, told RFE/RL that she came to Belgrade to support the students, her former pupils.
"We hope everything will go smoothly and the students will achieve their goals -- along with us," she said.
The parliament speaker announced a day before the protest that the parliament building would remain closed until March 17 for security reasons.
Government officials accused the protest organizers of planning violence and announced arrests. Students denied the authorities' claims and called for a peaceful gathering.
Large groups of Vucic supporters camped in a park near across from parliament, and tractors were brought in overnight to surround their camp. By morning, however, many of the tractors’ tires were deflated and some of the vehicles bore stickers depicting a bloody hand and a call to protests.
Damaged tractors in central Belgrade early on March 15
Police said some of the tractors had suffered other damage such as windows smashed or doors torn off. The Interior Ministry said two people had been arrested on suspicion of violating public order.
Police in riot gear blocked entrance to the park, and security guards from the ranks of the students were positioned between police and protesters.
Separately, footage posted online showed a car driving amid a crowd in a Belgrade suburb and a woman falling to the ground off the vehicle's hood. Police said three people were injured and the driver was arrested after exerting "active resistance."
A group of men injured a student and a university lecturer in an attack in central Belgrade early in the day, police said.