Serbia: A retaining wall collapsed; no injuries or casualties were reported

On September 23, a retaining wall at a construction site on Vojvode Vlahovica Street in Belgrade’s Brace Jerkovic neighborhood collapsed at around 5 p.m. The collapse caused a large hole to open beside the construction site. Part of the parking area belonging to a neighboring residential building gave way, and a car fell into the hole. No injuries or fatalities were reported.

Residents of the building adjacent to the construction site were evacuated as a precaution due to concerns about further collapse. According to RTS, they were temporarily accommodated in a hotel after part of the sidewalk also collapsed, creating an additional risk to the building. 

At the site promptly arrived firefighters, police officers, communal police and an intervention team. The road leading into the neighborhood was closed to traffic, although residents were still allowed access. A prosecutor from Belgrade’s Second Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office also visited the scene and ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collapse.

The Special Department for the Suppression of Corruption at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade has opened a case concerning the collapse. Prosecutors have requested documentation from the Secretariat for Inspection, Oversight and Communication to establish how the construction site had been supervised and what actions had been taken by the developer.

They also requested the site’s planning conditions, project documentation and building permit from the Secretariat for Urban Planning. Furthermore, another part of the investigation will examine whether residents had previously reported ground movement, instability or other problems at the construction site. Prosecutors are also looking into whether inspection authorities responded to any earlier complaints and what measures they took.

Following the collapse, construction inspectors ordered the site to be closed. All construction work has been prohibited, except for measures needed to stabilize the foundation pit and protect nearby buildings, roads and surrounding ground. The closure order has been posted on the site fence.

Stefan Simic of the Movement of Free Citizens visited the site the day after the collapse. He criticized the inspection authorities and said the incident had left another residential building at risk, forcing its residents to leave their homes.

He further pointed to the speed at which emergency stabilization work began after the collapse. He said that, within a short period, numerous trucks were bringing material to the site and that heavy equipment was working to stabilize the area. Specifically, a day after the collapse efforts were underway to prevent the foundation pit from collapsing further. Trucks delivered soil to the site, while excavators placed the material into the excavation.

According to Mondo, the developer is Stevan Micic, who has been associated with several hospitality businesses in Belgrade as well as the construction companies Stadion Invest and Stadion Construction. Neither the developer nor the contractor working at the site provided comments regarding the incident.

The Secretariat for Inspection said it had mobilized all available resources to determine whether there had been failures or omissions by any of the parties involved in the construction process. This includes the developer, contractor, professional supervision and other potentially responsible parties.