Parents, relatives and friends of the victims of the fire that broke out on March 16 at the "Pulse" disco in the city of Kocani, North Macedonia, gathered today to honor their memory with a silent procession that passed through the city, the online edition of the newspaper reports. "Independent".
In mourning clothes, with photos of the deceased young people in their hands and with tears in their eyes, they left the Park of the Revolution at 12:05 local time (13:05 Bulgarian time) as a symbol of the delayed reaction of the institutions, notes the publication, quoted by BTA.
In the demonstration, called "March for the Angels", the grieving families were joined by many other residents of the city. Some of them carried posters with inscriptions "This is not an accident, this is murder", "The corrupt system killed our children", "March for the 59 angels" and others.
During the fire at the "Pulse" discotheque In the town of Kocani, about 80 km east of Skopje, 59 young people died and nearly 200 were injured on March 16. The fire, which broke out during a concert by the popular band DNA, was caused by sparks from pyrotechnics used for lighting effects, according to initial investigation data. Officials said the discotheque's license had been obtained illegally. The facility had only one emergency exit, which was locked during the concert. There were only two fire extinguishers and there was no fire alarm or water sprinkler system in case of fire.
Aleksandar Karadakovski, 29, the manager of the Kocani discotheque, who was working as a bartender at the establishment on the night of the fire, which brought the death toll to 60.