NOVI SAD, Serbia (AP) — Protesters threw flares and red paint at the City Hall building in the Serbian city of Novi Sad on Tuesday, angered by last week. the collapse of a concrete canopy at the train station which killed 14 people. The police responded by firing tear gas.

Protesters surrounded the building in central Novi Sad, breaking windows and throwing stones and other objects, despite calls from organizers to remain calm. Special police forces were deployed inside the building.

Some of the angry masked protesters, believed to be football hooligans who are close to the populist government, tried to enter the building and deliver demands that those responsible for the canopy collapse be brought to justice.

Serbia is autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic said police were “showing restraint” but also issued a warning saying “horrific and violent protests are ongoing”.

“People of Serbia, please don’t think that violence is allowed,” he told X. “All those who participate in the incidents will be punished.”

The organizers of the protest said they wanted to enter the hall and present their demands.

Miran Pogacar, an opposition activist, said that “a glass window can be repaired, but we cannot bring back 14 lives. People are angry. Serbia will not stand for this.”

Bojan Pajtic, an opposition politician, said he believed the violence and incidents were deliberately fueled by provocateurs, a tactic previously used in Serbia to derail peaceful anti-government protests and portray opposition protesters as enemies of the nation.

Thousands of people marched through the city’s streets for the first time demanding the resignation of high-ranking officials over the fatal roof collapse last Friday, including President Vucic and Prime Minister Milos Vucevic.

Protesters first gathered outside the station, where they held a moment of silence for the victims as organizers read their names. The crowd responded by chanting: “arrest the gang” and “thieves”.

The protest began peacefully, but some demonstrators later threw plastic bottles and bricks at the headquarters of Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party and smeared red paint on posters of the Serbian president and prime minister – a message that they have blood on them. hands.

Protesters removed most of the red, blue and white Serbian national flags that had apparently been hung on the premises to prevent an attack. That sparked an angry reaction from the president.

“Our Serbian tricolor was destroyed, hidden and removed by all those who do not love Serbia,” Vucic wrote to X. “Tonight in Novi Sad, this is done by those who tell us they love Serbia more than us decent citizens of this country.”

Critics of Serbia’s populist government blamed the disaster on rampant corruption in the Balkan country, a lack of transparency and sloppy work during renovation work on the station building, which was part of a larger rail deal with state-owned Chinese companies.

The accident happened without warning. CCTV footage showed the massive canopy on the outer wall of the station building collapsing over people sitting below on benches or entering and exiting.

Officials promised full responsibility and, under pressure, Serbia’s construction minister tendered his resignation on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said more than 40 people had already been questioned as part of an investigation into what happened. Many in Serbia, however, doubt that justice will be done with populists firmly in control of the judiciary and police.

Opposition parties behind Tuesday’s protest said they were also demanding Vucevic’s resignation and that documentation be made public listing all the companies and individuals involved.

Among the victims is a 6-year-old girl. Those injured in the roof collapse remained in serious condition on Tuesday.

The station has been renovated twice in recent years. Officials insisted the canopy was not part of the renovation work, suggesting it was the reason it collapsed, but giving no explanation as to why it was not included.

Novi Sad station was originally built in 1964, while the renovated station was inaugurated by Vucic and his populist ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbánover two years ago as a major stopover for a planned high-speed train line between Belgrade and Budapest.