For two days, citizens poured into Belgrade for the largest protest in modern Serbian history. This occurred despite authorities’ efforts to obstruct the demonstrations by halting public transportation.

Thousands of students walked into the capital, spreading messages of solidarity through smaller towns along the way. The city’s streets were packed, with people occupying several key locations.

“I came for my child, for my son, so that his future can be better,” a young man told DW.

Police estimated a peak turnout of 107,000. Arhiv javnih skupova (Archive of Public Gatherings), an NGO which tracks mass gatherings, reported between 275,000 and 325,000 demonstrators — possibly more.

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Panic while honoring Novi Sad victims

The most alarming moment occurred during a 15-minute silence to honor the victims of the station collapse. A loud, unexpected noise described by witnesses as resembling a projectile or crashing aircraft, caused panic and triggered a brief stampede. Videos on social media captured the crowd scattering in fear.

Dušan Simin, who was among the crowd, told DW that it “sounded like a plane was landing from the direction of the Presidency building.”

“We couldn’t run away from it — we didn’t know what to do. You don’t know if something will fall on your head or hit you from the side,” Simin said.

“People must have instinctively thought something was coming down the street, so they started running to the side, and we fell over each other. My wife hit her head on a lamppost. I watched her, but I couldn’t help. We still feel uneasy.”

He added that they planned to seek medical attention and that the incident has already been reported to the Belgrade Center for Human Rights, which has called on citizens to reach out if they need free legal assistance.

“We will seek justice because what they did is not normal,” Simin said.

Balkan news broadcaster N1 quoted military analyst Aleksandar Radic, who suggested an acoustic weapon, specifically a “sonic cannon” reportedly available to Serbian security forces, caused the sound. An opposition lawmaker echoed this claim, but police swiftly denied deploying any such device.