N.Macedonia mourns 59 killed in nightclub blaze / Photo: © AFP
N.Macedonia mourns 59 killed in nightclub blaze
North Macedonia lowered flags to half mast and hundreds turned out for memorial events on Monday as the Balkan nation mourned 59 people killed in a horrific nightclub blaze on the weekend.
The fire, which broke out early Sunday during a hip-hop concert in the Club Pulse in the eastern town of Kocani, caused the worst loss of life in the country since 1993, when two deadly plane crashes occurred.
Most of those killed were teens and young adults.
The fire triggered a widening criminal investigation, with 20 people called in for questioning, including a former minister.
Arrests were likely imminent, said Interior Minister Pance Toskovski.
The mayor of Kocani, Ljupco Papazov, on Monday announced his resignation over the tragedy, as he urged the circumstances be thoroughly probed.
"These children were our children. I knew most of them. I knew their families, and some were family friends. The shock and brokenness I feel will last my entire life," he posted on social media.
People flocked to memorials around North Macedonia, a country of 1.8 million people, to pay respects to those killed, and to vent anger.
"I think that this is not an accident but literally direct murder due to all the breaches that are being done in the state," Angela Zumbakova, a 19-year-old psychology student, said as hundreds massed at a service at the university in the capital Skopje under frigid rain.
"We cannot be silent all the time no matter how afraid we are," she said as students came to stand in silence, lay flowers and light candles at a makeshift shrine.
In Kocani, a town of 30,000 residents, dozens waited in line to sign a book of condolences.
Later Monday, a small group of protesters demonstrated outside at a cafe in Kocani owned by the same proprietor of Club Pulse, with some vandalising the property, according to local reports and video shared on social media.
- Over capacity -
The fire rapidly spread as a crowd of young fans packed into Club Pulse to attend the performance by a popular hip-hop band called DNK.
The blaze was apparently started by fireworks onstage igniting the ceiling of the nightclub, according to Interior Minister Pance Toskovski.
The minister said there were 500 people inside at the time, well over the capacity for the 250 tickets sold.
One of DNK's singers, Andrej Gjorgjieski, was killed and the other, Vladimir Blazev, was injured, while a guitarist, a drummer and a back-up singer also died.
On Sunday, the head of the Kocani hospital, Kristina Serafimovska, said that many of the dead "suffered injuries from the stampede that occurred in the panic while trying to exit".
Authorities said 162 people were hurt, with 45 suffering very serious injuries, many of whom were taken to hospitals in Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey for specialist treatment.
The interior minister said investigators had determined the owner of Club Pulse had been operating under a forged licence, as he vowed to crackdown on widespread corruption.
"Corruption and crime are leading us to a stage where we lose the lives of our children," Toskovski said.
The list of suspects caught up in the investigation includes the owner of the club, the organiser of the event, and people responsible for security.
North Macedonia is observing a seven-day mourning period over the tragedy, which was relayed in videos posted on social media that showed huge flames emerging from the a white two-storey structure that housed the club.
Other videos shot before the fire showed "stage fountains" set up for the concert -- a type of indoor fireworks used during performances.
The prosecutor's office said the club had breached several fire regulations, including having insufficient extinguishers and emergency exits.
A.Robinson--TNT
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