Thousands gathered for a night vigil in northern Serbia on Saturday to honor the 14 victims killed in a tragic train station roof collapse.

The disaster struck early on Friday at the main train station in the northern city of Novi Sad.

At a makeshift memorial on the boulevard near the station residents silently lit candles and laid flowers while some held white papers with the names of the victims.

Vigils were also held in towns across Serbia as residents expressed their anger and disbelief, demanding accountability for the tragedy.

"First, I am very sad, second I think that something has to be done, to be changed, so we can live with dignity. The authorities have to fulfill their responsibilities. I am very bitter, very angry," pensioner Vera Lekovic Ogorelica, 66, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"I simply couldn't be anywhere else than here tonight. To send a message of solidarity, to share the pain with the families of the victims," said another mourner, kindergarten teacher Maja Drazic, 37.

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said Saturday that the authorities had started "determining responsibility" for the disaster.

Dacic told TV Prva that the prosecutor's office would be questioning 20 people, "starting from the top, people from the ministries, the public company (Serbia) Railways."

He said that police were seizing documents related to the railway station from the Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Ministry.

Transport minister questioned

Serbian Radio Television reported that Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic gave a statement to the Novi Sad Police Department late Saturday in the presence of a public prosecutor.

The ministry "is fully cooperating with the prosecutor's office in order to fully clarify the causes of this terrible tragedy," Vesic said.

The central railway station in Novi Sad underwent three years of renovation that was completed in July.

Serbia Railways said in a statement that the collapsed roof had not been part of the renovations.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expressed his condolences and support for the victims' relatives and vowed to take action.

"Those responsible, I assure you, will be punished," the president said Friday.

Three people who were injured in the incident remain in a serious condition, the University Clinic Center of Vojvodina said.

Several heads of states have sent condolences, among them those of Croatia, Russia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Greece and Türkiye.

Türkiye mourns victims

Türkiye on Saturday offered condolences to the Serbian people over the loss of lives in the accident.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of many lives yesterday (1 November) in the collapse of the roof of a train station in Novi Sad, Serbia," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

"We extend our condolences to the people of Serbia and to the families of those who lost their lives," it added.