At least 59 dead in a nightclub fire in North Macedonia
The fire broke out in a venue in the town of Kocani during a concert with 1,500 people.
BarcelonaAt least 59 people died and 155 were injured, 22 in critical condition, in a fire at a nightclub in North Macedonia, the Interior Ministry confirmed. The fire broke out at 3:00 a.m. local time during a concert by the urban music band DNK, which was attended by around 1,500 people, mostly young people. The nightclub was operating with a forged license, and 15 people were arrested in connection with the incident.
Four members of the band died in the fire at the Pulse nightclub in Kocani, a town of 30,000 inhabitants located about 100 kilometers from the capital, Skopje. According to the director of the local hospital, the youngest victim was 14 years old, and the rest of the deceased were in their twenties. The victims also included a police officer who was inspecting the venue at the time of the fire.
The local news portal Mk.mk claims the fire was caused by the use of fireworks inside the nightclub. The blaze reportedly triggered a wave of panic and a stampede, resulting in dozens of deaths from the flames or suffocation. Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski has canceled his schedule and called for six days of national mourning, in addition to ordering inspections of all nightlife venues. Among those arrested are a former state secretary responsible for licensing and a former director of civil protection.
Overwhelmed hospitals
The injured have had to be distributed among hospitals in different locations because the city's hospitals are overwhelmed, and many will be transferred to neighboring countries. A 20-year-old woman who had been at the nightclub and was waiting for information from her friends outside a Skopje hospital told the media that "firefighters and ambulances arrived very quickly and tried to revive people right there, but everything happened very quickly."
Numerous European leaders have expressed solidarity with the country, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the heads of state of Albania, Bulgaria, and Hungary, as well as the prime ministers of Hungary and Greece, with whom North Macedonia maintains ties.
