At least 59 people are dead and another 155 are injured after a massive fire ripped through a nightclub in Kocani, North Macedonia, on March 16.
A local pop group was holding a concert at Club Pulse when the fire broke out at about 2:30 a.m., Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski told reporters, adding that 39 of the deceased had so far been identified.
Pyrotechnics likely caught the roof on fire, he said, following an initial analysis. In videos displaying the chaos, musicians pleaded with spectators to flee as quickly as possible while people ran through the smoke.
The injured, many with critical burns, were sent to hospitals around the country, including the capital, Skopje, officials said. Multiple volunteer organizations are helping with the effort.
So far, 118 people have been hospitalized, Health Minister Arben Taravari said. He is receiving offers of help from neighboring countries, including Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Albania.
“All our capabilities have been put to use in a maximum effort to save as many lives as possible of the young people involved in this tragedy,” Taravari told reporters.
The fire is North Macedonia’s worst tragedy in recent memory. The landlocked nation has a population of less than 2 million.
While visiting burn victims at a hospital in Skopje, President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova spoke to parents standing outside the building.
“It’s terrible ... hard to believe how this happened,” she said. “We must give these young people courage to continue.”
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski wrote in a social media post: “This is a difficult and very sad day for Macedonia. The loss of so many young lives is irreparable, and the pain of the families, loved ones, and friends is immeasurable.”
In Kocani, roughly 72 miles east of Skopje, family members huddled in front of hospitals and city offices, pleading with officials for more information.
The club has been operating for years and was housed in an old building that had previously been a carpet warehouse, local media outlet MKD reported.
The single-story building’s roof caught fire, causing a partial collapse that left charred wooden beams and debris. The site was cordoned off by police, who sent in evidence-gathering teams in coordination with state prosecutors.
Several people were already being questioned by police, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to Ljubco Kocevski, a state prosecutor, who did not offer additional details.
Authorities are investigating the club’s licensing and safety procedures, and the government has a “moral responsibility” to prosecute those responsible, interior ministry officials said. One man had been arrested by police, but authorities did not provide details on his involvement with the fire.
North Macedonia’s neighbors and leaders from Europe sent their condolences.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, posted on social media platform X that she was “deeply saddened,” adding that the 27-nation bloc “shares the grief and pain of the people of North Macedonia.” The nation is currently a candidate for membership in the union.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also offered words of support in a post on X.
“I wish those who were injured a speedy recovery. Ukraine mourns alongside our [North] Macedonian friends on this sad day,” he wrote.
Pyrotechnics have been the cause of other deadly nightclub fires in recent history, including one in 2015 at the Colectiv club in Bucharest, Romania, that killed 64 people.
