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The disaster, which occurred early on Sunday at Club Pulse in
the eastern town of Kocani after pyrotechnics were used during a
concert there, has sparked outrage over alleged corruption and
safety violations. Demonstrations took place Monday in both
Kocani and the capital, Skopje, with some turning violent —
protesters in Kocani overturned a van and hurled rocks at a
municipal building. “We must call once again for reason,”
Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski said in an interview with
private Sitel television late Monday. “We must allow the
prosecuting authorities to do their job so that in the end we
can finally normalize the state.”
Investigations have so revealed that the club was operating at
at least double its 250-person capacity without proper
licensing. Official say there were numerous safety violations —
no emergency exits, insufficient fire equipment, the use of
flammable cladding and no sprinkler system. Many victims were
trampled as panicked concertgoers rushed toward a single exit.
Neighboring Serbia and Bulgaria, which immediately offered
assistance following the tragedy, are observing a day of
national mourning Tuesday in solidarity with North Macedonia.
Medical specialists from the Czech Republic, Serbia, and Israel
have arrived to support treatment efforts for the injured,
Health Ministry official said. And the European Union is helping
transport burn victims to nearby countries.
Around 50 patients are being treated in mostly neighboring and
nearby countries, the majority of them with serious burns. The
disaster has intensified scrutiny of corruption in North
Macedonia, which the EU has previously identified as a major
obstacle to the country’s accession to the bloc. Authorities are
investigating allegations that club owners bribed officials to
bypass safety regulations.
The government has ordered nationwide inspections of all
nightclubs and other entertainment venues.
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Testorides reported from Skopje, North Macedonia
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