While the Emergency Center does not answer "Vremen"'s questions, Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar answers ironically. The question is whether more people are really reporting symptoms of dizziness, nausea, headaches that are associated with the alleged sonic boom during the protest in Belgrade on March 15
After the alleged sound impact, testimonies are circulating on social networks that the people who found themselves in Belgrade in Kralja Milana Street, people went to the doctor en masse with complaints such as ringing in the ears, headaches, and nausea.
Official information on whether there was an increased number of admissions was difficult to come by, and the UKCS Emergency Center denied on Sunday (March 16) the information that appeared in the public and is spreading through social networks that dozens of citizens were cared for in that health institution with ailments that could be caused by "the use of some kind of sonic cannon".
No one answers the phones in the Emergency Center on Sunday and Monday before noon, and it is difficult to get information even in the center itself.
Monday morning at the Emergency Center in Belgrade
The waiting rooms of the Emergency Center in Belgrade were not very crowded on Monday, March 17 in the morning.
People are waiting for examinations, and some are commenting on the events of the protest held in Belgrade two days earlier.
One middle-aged woman came for other problems, but says she's seen several people who have reportedly experienced symptoms of headaches, nausea, dizziness. What are circulating on social networks as the main symptoms of the use of a sound cannon or something that was allegedly used at the March 15 protest.
“Now there was a woman here. She was vomiting, she says, had nausea, dizziness. They sent her for a scanner," says a woman sitting in the waiting room.
At the reception, they say that they cannot provide information on the number of patients admitted and refer them to the administration. In the administration, a friendly woman, the secretary, says that it is not usual for journalists to come there and calls the Ministry of Health's media relations service.
In the telephone conversation with them, they tell us to contact the press service of the Clinical Hospital Center by email.
The response had not arrived by the time this article was published.
On Sunday and Monday morning, no one answered the three phone numbers that we received from the Clinical Center's central office the day before, which are emergency numbers.
"Look how crowded it is, you can't get in"
Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar was also in the Emergency Center on Monday morning.
When asked if the number of admissions of people with symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, ringing in the ears has increased, he says that he does not want to comment and adds: "Look how crowded it is, you can't get in", pointing to the empty space at the entrance to the Emergency Center, while getting into the car.
The irony of the minister aside, it's true - the waiting rooms are not very crowded on Monday morning.
From the reception, we are sent to an outpatient clinic, from where we are referred to the neurology department.
A young woman is waiting in front of the infirmary, she says that she came for a different reason, she was not at the protest, but adds that when she came for an examination on Sunday, they changed the date for her examination. Instead of 16, they wrote 15.
According to reports from social networks, lists of those who reported after the protest were also made in some health institutions. We cannot prove those allegations.
Testimonies from hospitals
We also collected some testimonials from people who went for examinations due to the discomfort they felt.
According to the testimony we received from the hospital in Zemun, a woman spent six hours in the hospital on Sunday, March 16.
"I met a lot of people there who were not in line." Their eardrums bleed, they vomit, they faint, their ears ring and they have physical injuries. I cried all day listening to their stories", she testified for "Vreme".
Due to complaints, another patient came to the hospital. There are two diagnoses on the medical report - tinnitus and other diseases of the organs that maintain balance.
"The patient comes for examination due to pressure and discomfort in the ears, nausea, dizziness and headache. The troubles arose last night after the 'sound impact' that happened on the street in Belgrade during the '15 minutes of silence'."
It is necessary to report to an audiologist the following day for a hearing test, and then balance.
Several people from Novi Sad who were at the protest in Belgrade contacted us.
"Of the five of us who were on Kralja Milan Street near Pionirski Park, four reported to the doctor on duty in Novi Sad with symptoms of headache, pain and ringing in the ears, and three were sent to the hospital in Mišeluk for an ear examination, and we have proof of that," they told Vreme.
They were diagnosed with W42 – exposure to noise.
So far, it is difficult to determine if and how the symptoms people are reporting are related to the alleged sonic boom.
On the occasion of all the allegations, students and citizens held a protest in front of the Emergency Center building in Belgrade on Monday (March 17).
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