By Ivana Sekularac
BELGRADE (Reuters) -A man was seriously injured on Wednesday when shots were fired outside the parliament building in Belgrade near a tent erected by supporters of Serbian President Aleksander Vucic.
One person was detained and police secured the scene, officials and local media reported. Vucic told a government event he was addressing he had to leave early due to “a terrorist act that has just happened in front of the Serbian assembly building”.
Huge street protests have been going on for a year against Vucic, triggered by the collapse of a train station awning in the city of Novi Sad last November that killed 16 people and that many blame on government neglect and corruption.
The shooting took place in a park between the parliament and Vucic’s office where his supporters have erected tents to block the protesters from approaching the buildings. No protest was going on at the time.
One video posted online showed armed security officers approaching one of the tents as a man hobbled away from the scene. A few shots were fired and then a fire broke out inside the tent, according to a video posted on the NOVA media outlet, the location of which was verified by Reuters.
It was not clear who fired the shots or started the fire, which was put out soon after.
A 70-year-old man shot a 57-year-old man in the leg and then shot a gas canister in the tent camp, Telegraf.rs reported, citing sources.
Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar told reporters that a man had a serious wound and would have to be operated on urgently.
Another video posted on X and verified by Reuters showed a man lying on the ground with his hands behind his back and surrounded by police officers.
A Reuters reporter saw fire engines and police surrounding the site. Local police declined to comment but one officer at the scene said “there is no danger anymore”.
(Additional reporting by Antonis Pothitos and Daria Sito-Sucic; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
