A total of 59 people have already died and 155 are injured in the fire at a disco in Kocani, North Macedonia. This was announced by the country's Minister of Interior, Pance Toshkovski, at a press conference broadcast by the MIA agency and quoted by BTA.
Toshkovski announced that 35 of the dead have currently been identified, with 31 of them from Kocani. There is currently no information on how many people were in the disco at the time of the incident. The media reported earlier that there were probably around 1,500 people.
„A police officer from the Probishtip police station also died, who was currently on duty and working on a previously prepared plan for public catering establishments in the area“, he noted, adding that the police officer was checking the site for illegal drug trafficking and the presence of minors.
„The Ministry of Interior is currently acting in coordination with the prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Economy, from which documentation is being provided for the disco in question, as well as for the persons associated with it“, Toshkovski noted.
According to him, a central warrant has been issued for the arrest of four people, but at this point it is not yet possible to release information about who they are.
„All inspection services will be involved and will carry out control throughout the day“, he also indicated he. “Literally everyone involved is in the process of being controlled. Literally everything that could be related to this terrible event is being analyzed, both in the construction and technical documentation, and in relation to the permits, processing and securing of the facility“.
The director of the Kochani hospital, Dr. Kristina Serafimova, indicated at another press conference today, quoted by MIA, that those who died in the fire were between 14 and 25 years old.