NOVI SAD, Serbia, Nov 6, (AP): Protesters on Tuesday threw flares and red paint on the City Hall building in the Serbian city of Novi Sad in rage over last week's collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station that killed 14 people. Police responded by firing tear gas canisters. The protesters surrounded the building in the city center, broke windows and threw stones and other objects despite calls by organizers to remain calm.

Special police troops were deployed inside the building. Serbia’s autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic said police were "showing restraint,” while warning that "horrific, violent protests are underway.” "People of Serbia, please do not think violence is allowed,” he said on X. "All those taking part in the incidents will be punished.”

Miran Pogacar, an opposition activist, said "one glass window can be mended but we cannot bring back 14 lives. People are angry. Serbia won’t stand for this.” Protest organizers said they wanted to enter the City Hall building and submit their demands, including that those responsible for the canopy collapse face justice.

Some of the protesters trying to get inside the building wore masks and were believed to be soccer hooligans who are close to the populist government. Bojan Pajtic, an opposition politician, said he believed violence was being stoked by provocateurs, a tactic used before in Serbia to derail peaceful anti-government protests and paint the opposition protesters as enemies of the nation.

Earlier, thousands of demonstrators had marched through the city streets demanding that top officials step down because of the fatal outer roof collapse last Friday, including President Vucic and Prime Minister Milos Vucevic. The protesters first gathered outside the railway 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.”