Zagreb, 3 February 2025 (Hina/MIA) - The blockades of three bridges in Novi Sad, organized by students from four state universities in Serbia to mark three months since the fatal collapse of a canopy at the city's railway station, ended Sunday with the reopening of the final bridge, the Liberty Bridge, which had been closed to traffic for 24 hours.

As decided during a joint meeting of students and several thousand citizens supporting them, the blockade would last for an additional three hours while the students cleaned and tidied the space where they had spent the night.

Thousands of students and citizens from Novi Sad, Vojvodina province and Serbia began blocking the three Novi Sad bridges on Saturday, marking the "Three Bridges for Three Months" action, exactly three months after 15 people died in the collapse of a concrete canopy at the recently renovated railway station, with two other young people seriously injured.

On Saturday, the Varadin, Žeželj and Liberty bridges were each blocked for three hours. A large group of Belgrade students arrived at the protest after a two-day walk, and the next day several hundred students arrived by bike.

The blockades, led by students whose protests have been ongoing at more than 60 universities since Nov. 22, were joined by tens of thousands of Novi Sad residents as well as people from across Vojvodina and Serbia, including agricultural associations, several hundred motorcyclists and many public figures.

Students have been demanding accountability from the authorities for the deadly canopy collapse, respect for the constitution and the law, the eradication of corruption and the strengthening and independence of state institutions free from political influence.

The government claims all the demands related to the canopy collapse have been met, but students and experts dispute this, pointing out that not all data that could indicate corrupt practices and negligence in the station's renovation were included in the published documents.

The student revolt has meanwhile developed into a movement that gains more support every day. Mass solidarity protests are being held across Serbia, so far in more than two-thirds of towns and villages, with protest strikes in secondary schools, even in schools whose principals and staff are being threatened with dismissal.

Students and their demands are supported by professors, agricultural associations, educators, high school seniors and their teachers, numerous trade unions and NGOs.

On Sunday, around 200 taxi drivers from Belgrade arrived in Novi Sad to transport the Belgrade students back after the blockade ends, as they had walked to Novi Sad for the protest on Friday.

After their two-day protest in Novi Sad, the students announced they would continue their fight to have their demands met.

The authorities see the student revolt as an attempt at a "color revolution," claiming that the students have been manipulated, paid from abroad and influenced by foreign intelligence services, with the opposition allegedly seeking to overthrow the government without elections.