Tens of thousands of people have gathered in the Serbian city of Novi Sad to mark the first anniversary of a railway station disaster.

Mourners placed flowers and candles along temporary fencing near the damaged station entrance on Saturday, where 16 people died when the canopy collapsed on November 1, 2024.

“I feel … great pain and sadness,” Svetlana, a 45-year-old woman, told the AFP news agency, capturing the sombre mood at the memorial gathering.

The commemorations began at 11:52am (10:52 GMT), precisely when the tragedy occurred a year ago, with tens of thousands expected to participate in the memorial gathering.

The disaster, which has come to symbolise entrenched corruption, led to regular student-led protests across Serbia over the past year.

What began as calls for a transparent investigation quickly evolved into broader demands for early elections.

Students, who organised Saturday’s “largest commemorative gathering,” were joined by supporters who had been converging on Novi Sad since Friday – arriving by various means of transportation.

Thousands made symbolic journeys to attend, including marchers from Belgrade who walked approximately 100km (62 miles), and others from Novi Pazar, about 340km (211 miles) south of the capital. These marchers took exactly 16 days – one for each victim – to complete their journey.