German invasion of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941 with the heavy aerial bombing, especially of Belgrade (Operation "Retribution"). In a vain attempt to halt the advancing German army, Royal Yugoslav Army decided to demolish all three bridges which existed in Belgrade at that time (other two were Old Railroad Bridge and Bridge of the King Peter II). Military commander of Belgrade, general Vojislav Nikolajević, was ordered to demolish them, and the order for the King Alexander Bridge was executed by major Velimir Piletić. The bridge was wired with the explosives on 11 April 1941. It was blown up during the night and went out of service but apart from failing to stop the occupying army, the demolition directly caused a lethal accident. As the Royal Army was in a disarray, they blew up the bridge while the tugboat "Tanasko Rajić" was towing the military transport ship "Korana" with Yugoslav soldiers, transporting them to the reserve position in the village of Ostružnica, downstream the Sava. Not seeing the ships in the pitch dark, the military engineers blew up the bridge and the construction fell directly on the ships, killing 95 out of 110 soldiers and crew members.