15 detained after deadly North Macedonia club fire

Fifteen people have been detained in the wake of the devastating blaze at Pulse nightclub in Kočani, North Macedonia that killed at least 59 concertgoers and injured more than 150 others.

The venue had been hosting a concert by hip-hop duo DNK, attended by around 500 people, when the fire started at 2.35am local time on Sunday 16 March.

The government has declared seven days of national mourning to honour the victims.

“Most of the dead suffered injuries from the stampede that occurred in the panic while trying to exit,” Kocani hospital head Kristina Serafimovska told AFP. “Seventy of the patients have burns and carbon monoxide poisoning.”

Interior minister Pance Toskovski said the fire is believed to have been ignited by sparks from pyrotechnic devices as the band were playing on stage.

“The sparks caught the ceiling, which was made of easily flammable material, after which the fire rapidly spread across the whole discotheque, creating thick smoke,” he told a press conference.

“The most important thing is to find out all the facts and evidence necessary for the follow-up measures. We must remain calm while taking all these steps so that something like this doesn’t happen again.”

The incident is the deadliest nightclub fire since 64 people died in a blaze at the Colectiv club in Bucharest, Romania, in 2015

Kočani is a town located around 100km east of the capital Skopje. Toskovski told reporters there were “grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption” surrounding the nightclub – a former carpet warehouse – which was at double its 250 capacity and did not hold a valid licence.

Initial inspections on Sunday uncovered various “abnormalities” including “deficiencies” in the venue’s fire-extinguishing and lighting system said Biljana Arsovska, a spokesperson for the public prosecutor’s office.

Those detained include the venue owner and former government officials, reports the BBC.

In response to the tragedy, the government has ordered a three-day inspection of nightclubs and cabarets across the country, starting today (17 March).

The incident is the deadliest nightclub fire since 64 people died in a blaze at the Colectiv club in Bucharest, Romania, in 2015.

The case also appears to be strikingly similar to the 2003 fire at The Station venue in Rhode Island, US, which killed 100 people and injured 230 after pyrotechnics ignited flammable acoustic foam in the walls and ceilings around the stage.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Read More Like This

News|06 Feb 2025

Mumford & Sons reveal intimate global club tour

The British folk-rock band have announced a whistlestop nine-date tour, including their first European headline run in seven years

News|07 Nov 2024

TEG to launch North East England’s biggest festival

The 45,000-capacity Come Together festival will take place next summer on Newcastle's Town Moor

News|13 Feb 2025

North Sea Jazz mourns ‘driving force’ Jos Acket

The team behind the Dutch festival have paid tribute to the widow of founder Paul Acket following her death at the age of 91