Chinese workers are nearing completion of a crucial railway viaduct in Vrbas, Serbia, that forms part of the new high-speed railway from Belgrade to Budapest.
The Belgrade to Budapest high-speed railway is one of the biggest infrastructure projects in eastern Europe. The 75-kilometer-long Belgrade to Novi Sad stretch has been in service since March 2022. On the Hungarian side, the construction of the section from the border to Budapest is also progressing.
When both sections are finished, the travel time between the capitals of Serbia and Hungary will be cut to just two hours and 40 minutes.
The Serbian section is partially funded by Chinese loans and built by Chinese companies. The viaduct, spanning over 1.4 kilometers with a complex steel structure, presented unique challenges in organizing the site for the smooth installation of the steel components.
Milan Banovic from China Railway International Company (CRIC) explained how complex the construction of the viaduct was.
"The part of this viaduct is made by steel. And this steel is produced in China and delivered here in Serbia. So, it was a challenge to organize the site in order to enable smooth installation of this steel structure. We needed to insure some temporary roads of the public transportation and so on," said Banovic.
The viaduct goes through the industrial heart of the city of Vrbas and over a canal that connects the Danube with the River Tisa. By the end of this year, trains traveling at almost 200 kilometers per hour will cross it on their way to and from the border with Hungary.
There are currently no trains running between Novi Sad and the northern city of Subotica but, when the track is operational, customers will notice the vast improvement to the previous service that averaged 40 kilometers an hour.
Anita Dimovski from the Serbian Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure explained the benefits.
"We can say that the quality of living will rise, so will the possibilities for the people to move from point A to point B in the shortest possible time that no other form of transportation offers. From Novi Sad to Subotica is 42 minutes and from Belgrade to Subotica is one hour and 17 minutes," said Dimovski.
The main construction stars of this project are the Chinese workers from the CRIC. In a short period of time, they have managed to overcome some serious technical challenges and bring this project to its final stage. And the key to that success was cooperation with their Serbian colleagues.
"Our cooperation with our Serbian colleagues can be described as harmonious, smooth and productive. This is because we have a common goal - to complete the construction and open the Novi Sad to Subotica section at an early date," said Li Wei, deputy manager of the CRIC's Construction Department.
The builders are saying that the entire Serbian side will be finished by this June. The test phase is scheduled to last several months, and the railway should become operational by the end of this year.
Serbia section of Belgrade-Budapest high-speed railway to be ready by June
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a hard landing in Iran's northwestern province of East Azerbaijan on Sunday, state-run IRIB TV reported.
Raisi’s helicopter was part of a convoy of three helicopters which was on its way from Khoda Afarin County, where Raisi had attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam along with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, to the provincial capital Tabriz where Raisi was scheduled to attend the inauguration of a petrochemical complex, according to the report.
"On May 19 local time, the helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi made a hard landing in East Azerbaijan in northwestern Iran. According to our investigation in Iran, the incident took place near the Varzaghan area of East Azerbaijan. From the live broadcast on Iranian national television, we can see that the entire area of the accident site is in a state of severe foggy weather, which caused great trouble to the search and rescue work. In addition to Iranian President Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan Province, and other officials and entourage were also on the helicopter," said Li Jiannan, a CCTV reporter in Iran.
Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi attributed the helicopter's rough landing to the unfavorable weather conditions, which he said also impacted search and rescue work.
The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pirhossein Kolivand told IRIB TV that 40 rapid reaction teams had rushed to the scene and were monitoring the region while noting that there were difficulties in reaching the scene by land or by air due to the mountainous terrain and the bad weather conditions.
Kolivand, however, said drones were being used to search the region.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri has ordered the army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the police to make all-out efforts to search for and rescue the president and his accompanying team, said the Iran Newspaper.
Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said medical teams had been stationed near the possible crash site.
Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said in a post on social media platform X that Vice President Mohsen Mansouri and several cabinet members were on their way to Tabriz after a meeting in Tehran.
Following the incident, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei expressed his hope that President Raisi and accompanying officials would be able to return home safely, saying that everyone should pray for them. Iranian people do not need to worry, and the work of the country and the government will not be affected, he said.
Following reports of the incident, leaders of neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan and Iraq, expressed concern over the developments and said they were ready to assist in search and rescue efforts.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the same day, saying that Türkiye is following the incident and hopes that Iranian President Raisi, Foreign Minister Abdollahian and other Iranian officials are safe and healthy. Türkiye has taken action to provide support for the search and rescue operation, the statement said.
Iranian president's helicopter makes hard landing in NW province
