REUTERS, Belgrade

Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned yesterday, becoming the highest-ranking official to step down amid a wave of anti-corruption protests that have spread across the country.

The anti-government demonstrations sprang up in the wake of the roof collapsing at a railway station in the city of Novi Sad, killing 15 people and leading to calls for Vucevic to quit.

What began as small gatherings in Novi Sad have ballooned and spread to the capital Belgrade as students, teachers and other workers have turned out in their thousands to blame the station disaster on corruption within the government of President Aleksandar Vucic.

The minister for construction, transportation and infrastructure, and the trade minister have already stepped down because of the incident, but that failed to quell the protests.

“I opted for this step in order to defuse tensions”, Vucevic told a news conference yesterday, announcing his resignation. He said the mayor of Novi Sad would also resign. “With this we have met all demands of the most radical protesters.”

The protests, which included students putting up a blockade at a main junction in Belgrade this week, have been largely peaceful.