59 people killed and over 150 injured in North Macedonia nightclub fire
15 people have been detained since the incident, which happened early Sunday morning
59 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in a fire that broke out at a nightclub in North Macedonia over the weekend.
In the early hours of Sunday, March 16, a blaze began at Kočani nightclub Pulse, thought to have been caused by pyrotechnics. The fire broke out at around 2:30AM local time.
Around 500 people were inside the venue watching a performance by popular North Macedonian hip hop group DNK. Of the band’s five members, only one survived.
The BBC reports that 155 people were injured in total. North Macedonia’s Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said that the venue did not have a licence to operate, saying that there are “grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption” linked with the blaze.
20 people went under investigation, 15 of those have been detained since the incident. The government said it would host an “emergency session” as investigations are ongoing.
The fire was thought to have broken out when special effect pyrotechnic flames hit the venue’s roof, causing a blaze. Toskovski said that it’s likely that the sparks “caught the ceiling, which was made of easily flammable material”, later creating “thick smoke”.
One survivor told the BBC that there was “only one exit”, which caused panic. Other reports note that the “improvised” club was previously a carpet warehouse, while first inspections of the venue showed “abnormalities”.
Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, North Macedonia's President, said that she was “shocked” of the news, saying in a statement: “Your immense pain is mine too."
"No business or activity can function without standards and rules," she wrote. "Let us not allow anyone to endanger the lives of innocent people again."
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter