Berliner Boersenzeitung - Pain and anger grip N. Macedonia town after fire tragedy

EUR -
AED 4.004623
AFN 76.830024
ALL 98.960446
AMD 426.964432
ANG 1.961265
AOA 995.99527
ARS 1164.613464
AUD 1.722971
AWG 1.962548
AZN 1.844112
BAM 1.949719
BBD 2.197227
BDT 132.217629
BGN 1.954809
BHD 0.410921
BIF 3224.871579
BMD 1.090304
BND 1.449891
BOB 7.519547
BRL 6.225749
BSD 1.088196
BTN 94.15448
BWP 14.775781
BYN 3.56136
BYR 21369.967563
BZD 2.185863
CAD 1.561474
CDF 3134.62502
CHF 0.956305
CLF 0.026059
CLP 1000.016666
CNY 7.880497
CNH 7.893256
COP 4491.236678
CRC 542.702397
CUC 1.090304
CUP 28.893068
CVE 109.922166
CZK 25.042182
DJF 193.783833
DKK 7.458904
DOP 68.42596
DZD 145.771907
EGP 55.181618
ERN 16.354567
ETB 143.027303
FJD 2.495053
FKP 0.839597
GBP 0.840385
GEL 3.047365
GGP 0.839597
GHS 16.89736
GIP 0.839597
GMD 78.588955
GNF 9427.452225
GTQ 8.40205
GYD 228.325179
HKD 8.472386
HNL 27.89245
HRK 7.532697
HTG 143.045758
HUF 396.805854
IDR 18036.802351
ILS 4.004383
IMP 0.839597
INR 94.343301
IQD 1426.663414
IRR 45824.707616
ISK 145.385077
JEP 0.839597
JMD 170.609393
JOD 0.773014
JPY 163.187501
KES 141.112328
KGS 95.602505
KHR 4373.333483
KMF 490.849396
KPW 981.199589
KRW 1582.552759
KWD 0.335793
KYD 0.906656
KZT 543.210017
LAK 23594.303813
LBP 97648.824151
LKR 322.922721
LRD 217.975988
LSL 19.744677
LTL 3.219386
LVL 0.659515
LYD 5.249564
MAD 10.503233
MDL 19.793663
MGA 5080.343411
MKD 61.412335
MMK 2288.592074
MNT 3791.090826
MOP 8.725168
MRU 43.312328
MUR 48.995124
MVR 16.83903
MWK 1889.820209
MXN 21.80279
MYR 4.845488
MZN 69.652147
NAD 19.744677
NGN 1680.276197
NIO 40.111878
NOK 11.556344
NPR 151.020039
NZD 1.884775
OMR 0.419723
PAB 1.090304
PEN 3.961078
PGK 4.481994
PHP 62.462073
PKR 305.420304
PLN 4.171765
PYG 8665.559281
QAR 3.968691
RON 4.966289
RSD 116.953417
RUB 90.179415
RWF 1549.624136
SAR 4.088583
SBD 9.282342
SCR 15.679509
SDG 655.166377
SEK 11.008172
SGD 1.452353
SHP 0.856808
SLE 24.891435
SLL 22863.140712
SOS 622.498085
SRD 39.704234
STD 22567.101162
SVC 9.540459
SYP 14176.005998
SZL 19.744677
THB 36.640032
TJS 11.883524
TMT 3.813611
TND 3.357634
TOP 2.625078
TRY 42.716112
TTD 7.403127
TWD 35.983231
TZS 2880.014899
UAH 45.317646
UGX 3997.111844
USD 1.090304
UYU 45.900001
UZS 14104.23753
VES 72.111959
VND 27856.526672
VUV 133.957539
WST 3.054022
XAF 654.465862
XAG 0.032315
XAU 0.00036
XCD 2.951778
XDR 0.816862
XOF 654.465862
XPF 119.331742
YER 268.844935
ZAR 19.916043
ZMK 9814.04553
ZMW 31.321225
ZWL 351.077594
  • RBGPF

    66.7000

    66.7

    +100%

  • CMSC

    -0.1100

    23.22

    -0.47%

  • SCS

    -0.0800

    10.93

    -0.73%

  • NGG

    -0.3300

    63.81

    -0.52%

  • CMSD

    -0.1500

    23.39

    -0.64%

  • RYCEF

    0.0400

    10.55

    +0.38%

  • AZN

    -0.3000

    77.07

    -0.39%

  • BTI

    -0.5800

    41.26

    -1.41%

  • RIO

    0.6700

    64.14

    +1.04%

  • GSK

    0.1400

    40.39

    +0.35%

  • RELX

    -0.6100

    48.99

    -1.25%

  • VOD

    -0.0200

    9.84

    -0.2%

  • BCE

    0.0800

    23.78

    +0.34%

  • BP

    0.4600

    34.22

    +1.34%

  • BCC

    -0.6600

    99.34

    -0.66%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    12.98

    -0.15%

Pain and anger grip N. Macedonia town after fire tragedy
Pain and anger grip N. Macedonia town after fire tragedy / Photo: Armend NIMANI - AFP

Pain and anger grip N. Macedonia town after fire tragedy

Despair mixed with anger in Kocani, North Macedonia on Tuesday in the wake of a horrific nightclub fire that left dozens dead and even more injured, prompting demands for justice.

Text size:

In the town of just 30,000 people, the deaths of 59 people -- most of them teenagers and young adults -- touched almost every home, with the agony of losing so many young people cutting especially deep.

"We are a small place. We all know each other," Sasko Jordanov, a 38-year-old dentist in Kocani, told AFP. "I am a doctor and have many patients dead, children of friends and neighbours."

"I have children -- their friends died. This is horrible," said a woman as she lit candles at a makeshift shrine, where others left flowers and messages of condolence.

The fire rapidly spread as a crowd of young fans packed into Club Pulse to attend the performance by a popular hip-hop band, DNK.

The blaze was apparently started by fireworks onstage igniting the ceiling of the nightclub.

More than 500 people were crammed inside despite just 250 tickets being sold, according to officials.

Many of those killed were trampled as they rushed to the exits, while the roof was consumed with flames.

The prosecutor's office said the club had breached numerous fire regulations, including having insufficient extinguishers and emergency exits.

Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said investigators had determined the club owner operated under a forged licence, and vowed to crackdown on corruption.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Toskovski said that he would replace local police in nearby towns of Veles and Shtip with officers from the capital Skopje to ensure the probe into the blaze remains impartial.

"This decision does not imply any guilt but is a step to guarantee that the process proceeds without pressure, suspicion, or undue influence," he said.

Toskovski said that all the victims had been identified and that 16 suspects remained in custody over the blaze, with investigators having questioned 72 witnesses.

Some 196 were hurt as a result of the fire, including 20 children, he said.

- 'Catastrophe' -

The tragedy triggered a widening criminal investigation, as authorities vowed that arrests were imminent.

Thousands have gathered to pay their respects across North Macedonia, with many holding minutes of silence to mourn.

But sadness has quickly turned to anger, with mourners voicing anger at the state.

In Kocani on Monday, protesters took to the streets, while others attacked a cafe allegedly owned by the same proprietor as Club Pulse, throwing rocks and breaking windows as police struggled to maintain order.

A local priest was finally able to calm tempers.

"Please calm down. I ask you in the name of God to go and bury the kids and then if you want, burn the town down," said the priest, in a video of the incident shared online.

But with more protests planned, the situation could escalate again soon.

On Tuesday, the country's Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said the response to the tragedy would be swift.

"As a government, we are doing everything we can and will continue to do everything we can to save human lives," Mickoski said during a press conference.

But in Kocani, many in the town had only begun to pick up the pieces.

At a cemetery on the outskirts of the town, grave diggers had begun preparing burial plots for the dozens who perished in the fire.

With pickaxes, shovels and backhoes, workers measured plots with the lid of a coffin as they dug a fresh row of graves under a cold grey sky.

For many, the pain was just too much to bear.

"It's horrible. I have a cousin -- her child died," said one resident who worked near Club Pulse and asked not to give his name.

"This is a great catastrophe."

(A.Berg--BBZ)