'We don't feel safe': Serbians lash out after fatal roof collapse

Novi Sad, Serbia: For years, Serbia s leaders boasted of launching a building spree across the country that had touched off a new era of prosperity in...

Novi Sad, Serbia: For years, Serbia's leaders boasted of launching a building spree across the country that had touched off a new era of prosperity in the Balkan country.

But following the deaths of 14 people after a roof collapsed at a train last week, a new tide of anger has been unleashed at authorities. That public ire has largely focused on reports of alleged short cuts made with building projects, reports that have left many with a new sense of vulnerability.

On Tuesday evening, more than 20,000 protestors rallied in the city of Novi Sad outside the train station where the fatal incident occurred. Many in the crowd chanted "Prison, prison!" while waving signs that read: "How many more dead children?"

"We've been unhappy as a people for a very long time," Djordje Mitrovic, 30, told AFP at the rally. "We don't live well. We don't feel well... And now we don't feel safe either."

Amid mounting public pressure, the country's Construction Minister Goran Vesic resigned Tuesday, citing his ministry's oversight of development projects.