Interior Minister explains that arrests occurred after preliminary inspection revealed that the disco was working without proper license
Northern Macedonian authorities made 15 detainees following the fire that killed this Sunday59 people in a disco, and there were a registration of 155 injuries among those who attended the concert, the government said.
Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski said 15 people were detained for interrogation after a preliminary inspection revealed that the disco was working without proper license.
According to the minister, the number of people inside the disco was at least double their official capacity of 250 people.
“We have reason to suspect that there is bribery and corruption in this case,” he told reporters without detailing.
According to the authorities, the fire that launched at dawn in the city of Kocani, in the east of the country, caused the death of most young people and caused injuries due to burns, inhalation of smoke and a stampede in the desperate attempt to reach the only exit of the building. Among the injured, they are 16 years old teenagers.
Videos show sparkling pyrotechnics on the stage to reach the ceiling, followed by scenes of chaos inside the nightclub, with young people running between smoke while the musicians asked them to escape as soon as possible.
“We even tried to leave the bathroom, but we found bars in the windows,” Marija Taseva, 19, told the Associated Press on the fire that broke out after watching a local pop group at Club Pulse.
And he went on: “I managed to leave. I fell off the stairs and they passed over me, stepped on me. I could barely survive and could barely breathe. ”
During the day, condolences arrived, including that of the President of the Republic of Portugal and European leaders and the cabinet of Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized for a month due to breathing problems.
The fire caused the partial collapse of the roof of the building of one floor, revealing the charred remains of wooden beams and debris. Police cordoned off the scene and sent evidence collection teams in an operation that also involved the prosecutor.
Pyrotechnics has often been the cause of deadly fires in night clubs, including the Coletiv Club in Bucharest, Romania, in 2015, in which 64 people died.
