Government officials are among 20 people arrested in connection with the “tragedy” in a north Macedonian nightclub on Sunday.
Fire has ripped through a packed nightclub in north Macedonia, killing 59 and injuring more than 150, after sparks ignited the roof above a live band.
Authorities arrested about 20 people in connection with the fire, including government officials and the manager of the Pulse nightclub, which had no legitimate licence, Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said.
“We have a reason to suspect graft and corruption were involved in this case,” he said, without providing details.
An aerial photograph shows the site of the Macedonian nightclub fire. Image: AAP
One video from the event, verified by Reuters, showed a band playing on stage flanked by two flares whose white sparks set a patch of ceiling alight. The fire spread fast and caused a panicked rush to the exits early on Sunday.
“Fire broke out, everyone started screaming and shouting: ‘Get out, get out’,” Marija Taseva, 22, told Reuters.
As she tried to escape the Macedonian nightclub fire, Taseva fell to the ground and people trod on her, injuring her face. In the rush, she lost contact with her sister, who did not make it out.
“My sister died,” Taseva said, breaking into tears.
Toskovski confirmed that the fire, which began about 3am on Sunday (local time), was caused by “pyrotechnic devices” whose sparks triggered the blaze. He said there were 500 people in the club when the fire started.
About 148 people were hospitalised in Skopje, Kocani and surrounding towns, Health Minister Arben Taravari said. Among them were 20 who were critically injured.
Condolences flooded in from global leaders, including EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Pope Francis.
People searched for missing loved ones online and at hospitals across the country.
Simeon Sokolov, 50, found his daughter Anastasija at the emergency ward of the September 8 hospital in the capital Skopje, where she was being treated for burns and smoke inhalation.
“I just know that there are many children who have suffered,” he told Reuters.
“Doctors are doing their job and the number is big.”
Some patients were transferred to neighbouring Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece for treatment, authorities from those countries said.
North Macedonia’s Public Prosecutor Ljupco Kocevski said five prosecutors would investigate the incident.
“At the moment, orders have been issued for collecting of evidence” and some people were being interviewed, Kocevski said, without elaborating.
Toskovski said authorities had arrested members of the band, the son of the club owner and government officials.
Firefighters doused the charred and smoking entrance of the Pulse nightclub before dawn as ambulances rushed from the scene, TV footage from a local broadcaster showed.
Reuters pictures showed the club’s corrugated iron roof burned through and collapsed in places, its interior wooden beams exposed and blackened.
“This is a difficult and very sad day for Macedonia! The loss of so many young lives is irreparable, the pain of the families, loved ones and friends is immeasurable,” North Macedonia Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski wrote on Facebook.
After visiting the injured in a hospital in Skopje, North Macedonia’s President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, dressed in black and fighting tears, said authorities were ready to do everything to help all affected in the Macedonian nightclub fire.
“I simply cannot comprehend this … what a disaster, what a tragedy.”