SKOPJE, March 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police have detained 10 people after a fire at an nightclub in North Macedonia killed at least 59 people, officials said.
The blaze broke out around 02:30 local time on Sunday at the Pulse club in Kocani, where about 500 people had gathered for a concert by DNK, a popular hip-hop duo in the country.
Only one member of the band survived and was being treated in hospital, a spokesman for the public prosecutors office said. In total, 155 were injured at the concert.
Biljana Arsovska said short-term detentions had been issued for 10 suspects believed to be responsible for the fire – including “officials from the ministries which gave out this licence”.
Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said the venue did not have a legal licence to operate, while police are looking into whether bribery and corruption were linked to the fire.
The venue, in a town around 100km east of the capital, Skopje, has been described as an “improvised nightclub” in the local press, having previously been a carpet warehouse.
Arsovska said there had been only “one efficient exit” in the building, as the venue’s back door was locked and could not be used.
The first on-site inspections on Sunday had also showed several “abnormalities” in the venue. “There are deficiencies in the system for fire-extinguishing and the system for lightning,” she said.
Citing initial reports, Toskovski said the fire had been started by sparks from pyrotechnic devices that had hit the ceiling, which was made of highly flammable material.
Footage shows the band – which formed in 2002 and has topped the North Macedonian charts over the past decade – playing on stage when two flares go off, after which sparks catch fire on the ceiling before spreading rapidly.
Video shows people trying to extinguish the flames on the ceiling. The footage shows the club was still full and some people appeared to be watching efforts to put out the fire rather than leaving.
Reports suggest the fact there was only a single entry and exit point to the improvised nightclub caused panic.
Red Cross volunteer Mustafa Saidov said most of those affected were young people aged 18 to 20. Officials say more than 20 of the injured and three of those killed were under 18.
“The situation is brutal, chaotic, the stories are very sad, and unfortunately many young lives are lost,” Saidov added.
Dr Vladislav Gruev, a specialist in reconstructive and plastic surgery at the University Clinic for Surgical Diseases in the capital, said most of the patients being treated at his hospital arrived with extensive burns.
“[They have] second and third degree burns in the head, neck and upper torso,” he said.
Kocani’s hospital director earlier said that staff had initially been struggling to identify patients due to a lack of ID cards. Eighteen patients were assessed as being in a critical condition.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski called it a “difficult and very sad day” for the country, which had lost many “young lives”.
The government has declared seven days of national mourning, and the government is holding an emergency session as part of ongoing investigations on how the incident unfolded.
North Macedonia’s President, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, said she was shocked “as a mother, as a person, as a president”. Addressing the bereaved directly, she added: “Your immense pain is mine too.”
“No business or activity can function without standards and rules,” she wrote in a statement. “Let us not allow anyone to endanger the lives of innocent people again.”
Siljanovska-Davkova added that the most seriously injured were being taken to received treatment in specialist clinics in Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey.
European leaders have voiced their condolences, with European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen saying the EU “stands in solidarity with the people of North Macedonia in this difficult time”.
Neighbouring Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called it “a tragedy of immense magnitude”, adding that fears remain as “many more people will not be able to withstand the level of injuries they have at this moment”. — NNN-AGENCIES
