North Macedonia: Families ‘devastated’ after 59 people killed in nightclub fire

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Dozens of families have been left devastated after a fireplace ripped through a nightclub as an area pop group performed.

Children as young as 16 were among the many casualties after the ceiling caught fire at Club Pulse nightclub in Kocani, North Macedonia, within the early hours of Sunday morning.

59 people have died and 155 have suffered injuries brought on by burns, smoke inhalation, or being trampled in the course of the panicked rush to the club’s only exit.

Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said greater than 20 of the injured and three of those killed were under the age of 18.

Fearful relations gathered outside hospitals after casualties were sent to 4 different facilities across the country, including within the capital, Skopje, 70 miles away.

Dragi Stojanov was waiting outside the hospital in Kocani when he was told his 21-year-old son, Tomce, had died.

Families were left devastated waiting for answers outside hospitals (Picture: AP)

He said: ‘He was my only child. I don’t need my life anymore. 150 families have been devastated.

‘Children burnt beyond recognition. There are corpses, just corpses inside (the club). And the bosses (of organized crime), just putting money into their pockets.’

Police are investigating allegations of bribery and corruption at Club Pulse, which was a minimum of double its official capability when the fireplace began.

epa11967976 Relatives and friends react in front of Kocani's hospital after the 'Club Pulse' nightclub fire in Kocani, Republic of North Macedonia, 16 March 2025. A fire at a discotheque in Kocani in the early hours of 16 March 2025 claimed the lives of at least 50 people and left over 100 injured, according to initial reports from the Directorate for Protection and Rescue and the Center for Crisis Management. EPA/GEORGI LICOVSKI — 59 people have died and greater than 150 injured (Picture: EPA)

15 people have been detained for questioning to date, after initial inquiries found the club was operating with no proper licence.

The federal government announced a three-day inspection at every nightclub and cabaret within the country, ranging from today.

One survivor, 19-year-old Marija Taseva, said she and others tried to flee through the toilet only to seek out the windows were secured with metal bars.

epa11967816 Investigators look into the 'Club Pulse' nightclub after a fire in Kocani, Republic of North Macedonia, 16 March 2025. A fire at a discotheque in Kocani in the early hours of 16 March 2025 claimed the lives of at least 50 people and left over 100 injured, according to initial reports from the Directorate for Protection and Rescue and the Center for Crisis Management. EPA/GEORGI LICOVSKI — Investigators are attempting to substantiate the reason for the fireplace, thought to have been sparked by pyrotechnics (Picture: EPA)

‘I someway managed to get out. I fell down the steps they usually ran over me, trampled me. I barely stayed alive and will hardly breathe,’ she explained.

She suffered an injury to her face within the crush, and within the confusion, she lost contact along with her sister, who died within the nightclub.

Simeon Sokolov, 50, found his daughter Anastasija within the emergency ward of the September 8 hospital within the capital Skopje, where she was being treated for burns and smoke inhalation.