59 people have died in a fire at a nightclub in the North Macedonian town of Kočani.
As The Associated Press reports, a further 155 people were injured – 20 of them critically – when the fire broke out as a result of sparks from pyrotechnics making contact with the ceiling, which was made of highly flammable material. Those in hospital are being treated for burns and smoke inhalation, as well as injuries consistent with a stampede caused by people trying to flee the venue through its reported single entry and exit point.
The fire, which rapidly spread, is reported to have started at around 2.30am local time on March 16, and around 500 people – double the club’s reported capacity of 250 – are believed to have been inside the venue at the time. Only one member of DNK survived the fire, and the other is currently in intensive care.
“We even tried to get out through the bathroom, only to find bars [on the windows],” Marija Taseva, a 20-year-old survivor, told The Associated Press. “” somehow managed to get out. I fell down the stairs and they ran over me, trampled me. I barely stayed alive and could hardly breathe.” Her 25-year-old sister died in the fire.
Police have since detained 15 people for questioning in relation to the incident. Among them are “officials from the ministries which gave out this licence,” a spokesperson for the North Macedonia public prosecutor’s office said. Government officials have alleged that Club Pulse was operating without a proper legal license. North Macedonia Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski said: “We have grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption in this case.”
The North Macedonian government has declared a seven-day national mourning period in response to the incident, and has also announced plans to hold an emergency meeting as authorities investigate what led to the fire. In a statement, President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova said the incident shocked her “as a mother, as a person, as a president”.
This isn’t the first such nightclub fire triggered by the use of pyrotechnics, with further deadly blazes happening at Liv’s Night Club in Cameroon in 2022, Ghost Ship in Oakland, California in 2016, and Romania’s Colectiv in 2015.
