Pope Francis prays for victims of Serbian train station collapse

By Christopher Wells

Pope Francis says he is praying for the 14 people who died and the many others who were injured when the roof of a railway station in northern Serbia collapsed on Friday, 1 November.

“I send to Your Excellency and your fellow citizens my deepest sympathies together with the assurance of my spiritual closeness following the recent incident at Novi Sad railway station,” the Pope wrote. “At this difficult time for the nation, I pray especially for those who have died, their grieving families and the injured.”

The Holy Father went on to invoke “Almighty God’s blessings of healing, consolation, and peace” upon “all those affected by this tragedy.”

More than thirty people were injured, three severely, when the roof above the station collapsed.

On Tuesday, thousands of Serbians marched in Novi Sad to protest government negligence and corruption, which they blamed for the accident. Police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

Serbian Transport Minister Goran Vesic on Monday resigned over the incident.