Valentina (9) and Sara Firić (5) from Kovilj, along with their grandfather Đorđe Firić (53), tragically died on November 1 at the Novi Sad Railway Station. Their other grandfather, Branko, gave a heartbreaking account of how their Sunday began in tears, how each day is difficult for them, but yesterday was especially painful, as it was supposed to be their Tina’s 10th birthday.
“Yesterday she would have celebrated her 10th birthday, she was so excited about it, and instead of candles on the cake, we went to the cemetery to light a candle for the girls,” Branko Matić from Loznica, the grandfather of the two girls, barely managed to say through sobs.
Seventeen days have passed since the tragedy that shook the entire country, when a concrete canopy weighing several tons collapsed on 14 people, including children.
The youngest victims who did not survive were Valentina and Sara.
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Instead of Cake and Candles, the Day Was Spent at the Cemetery
Grandfather Branko, marking the birthday of one of their beloved granddaughters, shared a devastating account of how every new day is a struggle for them, and how especially hard it was on Sunday, the day they should have been celebrating the birth of their first granddaughter together.
“Our Sunday started in tears, just like every day, but today was especially hard. Our Tina was supposed to celebrate her 10th birthday, she was so happy about it, it seems like for months she had been talking only about the celebration and her friends, and now she’s gone, unable to blow out 10 candles on the cake. She and her sister never lived to see it, and they had just begun their lives,” said the grieving grandfather, through tears.
In the morning, they went together to the church to light a candle for the souls of their beloved ones who perished, and as he described, the girls’ parents spent the day at the village cemetery in Kovilj, where Tina and Sara are buried alongside their grandfather.
“Not a day goes by without hearing from the girls’ father. Today, he spent the whole day at the cemetery with his ex-wife. Our hearts are breaking for what they are going through, and we are suffering with them. Valentina and Sara’s mother is in very bad shape, while their father is somehow still holding on, it seems like he hasn’t fully realized everything, but when he returns to the empty house, surrounded by the girls’ toys, he’ll realize he is living through a parent’s worst nightmare. It is a great sorrow to experience this,” said the interviewee.
A Nightmare
Branko was, in fact, waiting for the Firić family to visit him, to celebrate the second day of the feast of Saint Luke. He was eagerly expecting his two granddaughters, only to soon learn of the tragedy at the railway station, where they were supposed to leave from on that fateful November 1.
“Immediately, I got in the car with my wife and headed to Novi Sad. We spent the whole day waiting for news about them, only to find out late at night the worst. It was a true nightmare for us, from which we will never wake up,” said Branko in a heartbreaking tone.
Sisters Valentina and Sara Firić were buried on November 5 in Kovilj, together with their grandfather Đorđe Firić (53), with whom they had, holding hands, set out on a short trip to Loznica to visit Branko. Their dreams and hopes were shattered by the heavy canopy, and they never even boarded the bus that day.
The grandfather and the granddaughters were found under the rubble, side by side, with the grandfather holding their hands. They are now laid to rest in the village cemetery as they perished. On that day, thousands of people came to say their final goodbyes.
Since then, an indescribable sorrow has gripped the town, and in the center of Kovilj, even today, locals can be seen lighting candles for the little girls who left this world too soon.
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Source: Nova.rs, Photo: Marko Korović