Grieving Serbian protest mother reaches day 16 of hunger strike

Belgrade: A grieving Serbian mother reached her 16th day of a hunger strike Monday, becoming a new focal point of the country s rumbling protest movem...

Belgrade: A grieving Serbian mother reached her 16th day of a hunger strike Monday, becoming a new focal point of the country's rumbling protest movement even as fears grow for her health.

Dijana Hrka, who has been taken to hospital twice in recent days, began her strike after tens of thousands of people gathered to mark the first anniversary of the fatal roof collapse which sparked the movement.

Her son Stefan, aged 27, was among the 16 killed in the collapse at a railway station in the city of Novi Sad.

Hrka, 48, has pledged to continue refusing food "until justice is served."

Wearing a mask, her legs covered with a fleece blanket, and seated in a wheelchair, she told media last week that she will not back down.