„On March 16, a great tragedy occurred in Kochani. A great tragedy - not only for Kochani, but for all of North Macedonia. 59 people officially died in the disco. All of them are young people - from 14 to 30 years old. My nephew was there. The medical teams managed to save him.“
This was told to bTV by Stoyan Rashkov from Kochani. According to him, the situation in the discotheque was more like a horror.
One of the organizers of the event was questioned, who stated that there was no written agreement to organize the concert between the organizer and the group “DNA“.
“The discotheque was in very bad condition. It was horror. Everyone who was inside headed for the exit - man on man. Many of the people died in the discotheque itself, from suffocation. When the medical teams arrived, over 30 people were already dead. Everyone was under great stress. Great panic“, he added.
“It was a concert by “DNA“. One of the singers died. He first headed for the exit, but then returned to save young people and unfortunately died. I have more than 10 people, my friends, who died. There is a lack of information, many parents are looking for their children“, the man explained.
Stoyan Rashkov said that the parents of the dead children do not want their bodies to be transferred to Skopje for an autopsy. That is why they formed a human shield.
“There are currently 15 people arrested for the incident. The authorities have conducted many interrogations. I think this is a lack of control. An unlicensed disco. Lack of standards. The disco used to be a shop, and only six months ago the disco was renovated. Everything burned down in five minutes“, he said.
The tension in Kocani is enormous. The investigation into the serious incident in the nightclub continues. It killed 59 people and seriously injured 155 others.
The authorities in the country announced that the fire was caused by pyrotechnic devices used during a concert in the disco. A large part of the injured and victims are young people between the ages of 16 and 24.
Bulgaria expressed sympathy and sent the military plane “Spartan“, as well as ambulances to transport some of the most seriously injured to Bulgarian medical facilities.
Yesterday it became clear that the establishment did not have a legal license to operate. The disco did not have fire extinguishers, an evacuation plan, a fire plan and a second door for leaving in extreme situations.