SAO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) – North Macedonia Police detained 15 people after a fire in a nightclub that resulted in 59 deaths and 155 injured. Among the detainees are the manager and son of the owner of the night club. According to Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski, the establishment operated without license.
The case in the city of Kocani, about 100 kilometers from the capital, Skopje, shocked the small country in southeastern Europe. “The loss of so many young lives is irreparable, and the pain of families, loved ones and friends is unimaginable,” wrote Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski in X.
The tragedy in the Pulse nightclub remembers the Kiss nightclub in 2013, when 242 people died and 636 were injured in Santa Maria (RS). “We, relatives of the victims of the Kiss nightclub crime, expressed indignation and, at the same time, solidarity with the loss of lives and the injured in the tragedy that occurred in Northern Macedonia. Our support and compassion to parents and family members who, at this desperate moment, need to endure this immense pain, ”says a note issued by the association of family members of victims and survivors of the Santa Maria tragedy on Monday (17). “May justice be applied quickly so that it can calm the pain a little.”
According to Northern Macedonia Attorney General Ljupco Kocevski, there was “only a single makeshift metal door on the back of the building, which was locked and without a doorknob inside.”
The fire started around 3 am local time (11 pm on Saturday in Brasilia), when sparks of flags set fire to a piece of the ceiling, in a circumstance very similar to that of the Kiss nightclub. Hundreds of people ran to the only way out of the scene as the flames spread across the roof. The place, which received approximately 1,500 people, was destroyed.
Local media reports described the nightclub as an old carpet deposit. There were only two extinguishers and no fire alarm, Kocevski said. The ceiling was made of flammable materials, and the plaster walls were not resistant to the fire.
Draghi Stojanov’s son died in the fire. “After this tragedy, why do I need this life? He had a son and I lost him, ”he told Reuters news agency.
Premier Mickoski said the club’s license was illegally issued and stated that the responsible would face the court. “This license – such as many other things in the past in Macedonia – is linked to bribe and corruption,” said Minister Toshkovski (interior). “But I mean to the public Macedônio that, contrary to other times, people who issue these illegal licenses will be named and responsible.”
“It’s devastating,” said Goran Georgijev, 47, who lives near the nightclub and lost acquaintances in the fire, such as the daughter of a 17 -year -old neighbor, and the sons of two friends, 21 and 22. He was once a Pulse goer and said the nightclub was poorly built. At dawn he heard a crack sound followed by Sirens. “I knew something terrible was happening.”
The number of dead can still increase. Health Minister Arben Taravani said 20 people are in serious condition, and some patients were sent to hospitals in other countries.
Some people with missing relatives line up outside the hospital in Kocani on Monday to provide DNA samples if their relatives were not identified. On the outskirts of the city, tractors and workers with paddles dug a row of graves in the Kocani cemetery.
Kocevski said his office was working to determine the criminal liability of several people for “serious crimes against public security” and other crimes. “The performance of individuals was contrary to the technical regulations and rules of protection measures and thus caused a danger to the lives and work of people on a large scale.”
A national week of mourning began this Monday, and the capital should hold a vigil for the victims.
