BELGRADE -- President Aleksandar Vucic acknowledged the "enormous negative energy and anger" directed at authorities as the Serbian capital witnessed its biggest public protest in decades.
With public ire fueled by allegations that official corruption played a role in a deadly train station accident in November, Vucic tried to position himself as responsive to public demands.
"We will have to change ourselves," Vucic told a news conference late on March 15.
"All people in the government have to understand the message when this many people gather. We will have to change ourselves," he said.
Authorities had estimated the crowd size at between 88,000 and 107,000. However, the Archive of Public Gatherings, an informal organization, put the number of people participating at between 275,000 and 325,000.
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The outpouring of crowds was one of the largest Serbia has witnessed in decades.
Protesters skirmished with riot police at several locations in Belgrade, throwing fireworks and bottles.
Minor incidents were reported around 7 p.m. near Pioneer Park, where students had set up a camp, after which participants announced an end to the protest for the night.
A group of people later continued to light torches at the Serbian parliament building as police stood nearby. Most protesters left the area by 11 p.m.
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The demonstration was the largest in a wave of student-led protests demanding Vucic's government be held accountable for a deadly cement canopy collapse at a railway station in November.
Vucic also insisted the majority of citizens do not want a "color revolution." That's a term referring to public uprisings in places like Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan that have led to the ouster of governments. The popular protests that paved the way for the ouster of Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic in 2000 are also sometimes classified as a "color revolution" as well.
Earlier in the day on March 15, flag-waving demonstrators gathered at several locations and converged outside the parliament, in what appeared to be one of the country's biggest protests in decades.
SEE ALSO: At Serbian Protests, 'Generation Vucic' Finds Its Voice"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.
Vucic also said 56 people were injured during the protest but none with life-threatening injuries.
He said 22 protesters had been arrested for crimes against property and for assaulting police officers and other people. The number could not immediately be confirmed.
The November 1 collapse of the cement 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 in that incident.
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.
SEE ALSO: Are Serbian Protests Starting To Loosen Vucic's Grip On Power?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.
Ljiljana 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.