At least 59 dead and more than 150 injured in nightclub fire in North Macedonia

KOCANI, North Macedonia (AP) — A massive fire tore through a nightclub in North Macedonia 's eastern town of Kocani early Sunday, killing 59 people and injuring 155, authorities said.

The blaze broke out around 2:30 a.m. local time during a concert by a local pop group at Club Pulse, Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski told reporters. Officials said 39 of the dead had so far been identified, adding that 18 of those injured were in critical condition.

Toshkovski said following an initial assessment that pyrotechnics likely caused the roof to catch fire. Videos showed sparkling pyrotechnics on the stage hitting the ceiling followed by scenes of chaos inside the club, with young people running through the smoke as the musicians urged people to escape as quickly as possible.

Throughout Sunday, relatives gathered in front of hospitals and city offices in Kocani, some 115 kilometers (72 miles) east of the capital, Skopje, begging authorities for more information. Local resident Dragi Stojanov was informed that his 21-year-old son Tomce had died in the fire.

“He was my only child. I don’t need my life anymore... 150 families have been devastated," he said. “Children burnt beyond recognition. There are corpses, just corpses inside (the club).” Condolences poured in from leaders around Europe as well as from the office of Pope Francis who has been in hospital for the last month, where he is fighting double pneumonia. Health Minister Arben Taravari said he had received offers of assistance from neighboring countries, including Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also sent messages of support. “I wish those who were injured a speedy recovery. Ukraine mourns alongside our (North) Macedonian friends on this sad day,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X. In Skopje, health officials said the injured have been taken to hospitals around the country, many being treated for severe burns and smoke inhalation. The effort was being assisted by multiple volunteer organizations.

“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, at times looking visibly shaken.

The fire is the worst tragedy in recent memory to befall the landlocked nation, whose population is less than 2 million, and the latest in a slew of deadly nightclub fires around the world.

President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova visited burn victims at a hospital in Skopje and spoke to parents waiting outside the building.

“It's terrible ... hard to believe how this happened,” she said, her voice halting with emotion. “We must give these young people courage to continue.”

The club was in an old building that was previously a carpet warehouse and has been running for several years, according to local media MKD.

The fire caused the roof of the single-story building to partially collapse, revealing the charred remains of wooden beams and debris. Police cordoned off the site and sent in evidence gathering teams in an operation also involving state prosecutors.

State prosecutor Ljubco Kocevski said several people were being questioned by police but gave no further details and stressed that the cause of the blaze was still being investigated.

Interior ministry officials said authorities would investigate the venue’s licensing and safety provisions, adding that the government had a “moral responsibility” to help prosecute anyone responsible. Police have arrested one man already, but he didn't provide details on the person's involvement.

Pyrotechnics have often been the cause of deadly fires in nightclubs, including the one at the Colectiv club in Bucharest, Romania, in 2015 in which 64 people died.

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AP writers from across Europe contributed.