SERBIAN Prime Minister Milos Vucevic said today he was stepping down following weeks of massive anti-corruption protests over the deadly collapse of a concrete railway station canopy in November.

Mr Vucevic told a news conference that his resignation was intended to ease tensions over the canopy collapse, which killed 15 people in the northern city of Novi Sad.

“It is my appeal for everyone to calm down the passions and return to dialogue,” he said.

Novi Sad Mayor Milan Djuric also stepped down today, Mr Vucevic said.

The prime minister’s resignation must be confirmed by Serbia’s parliament, which has 30 days to choose a new government or call a snap election.

On Monday, tens of thousands of people joined striking university students in a 24-hour blockade of a key road junction in the capital Belgrade. 

The students have been protesting for weeks, demanding accountability over the disaster, which critics have blamed on rampant government corruption.

Mr Vucevic said the immediate reason for him quitting was an attack on a female student in Novi Sad early today by assailants allegedly from the ruling Serbian Progressive Party. 

Prosecutors have filed charges against 13 people, including a government minister and several state officials, over the canopy collapse.