Of Athena Papakosta

Seven days of mourning preached the Northern Macedonia after the Fire that broke out in a nightclub costing life to at least 59 people, while more than 155 are injured. At least 20 people are suspected with the authorities holding 15 in an ongoing survey.

According to the country’s interior minister, Pantche Tuskovski nightclub It operated in the city of Kotsani, 97 kilometers east of the capital Skopje, without legal authorization, while in the past it served as a carpet warehouse.

As he did not emphasize, without further detail, “this license, like many other things in Northern Macedonia in the past, is associated with bribery and corruption.”

The fire is estimated to start fireworks inside the site at 02:35 am on Sunday morning during a concert which – according to initial estimates – watched more than 1,500 people. As it became known, among those who were hospitalized, there were teenagers and 14 years old. Among the 59 dead, three are under 18 years old.

“When the fire broke out, everyone started shouting and screaming” going out, “Reuters, 22 -year -old Maria Tasseva, told the 22 -year -old reuters, who in her attempt to escape fell to the ground, injuring her. Unfortunately, at that moment she lost her sister, who, as it became known later, failed to get out alive from the club. He was 25 years old.

The Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia, Christian Mitskoski, expressed his condolences, noting that the loss of so many young people is “irreparable”. At the same time, he called on all competent bodies to do what is necessary to determine the exact causes of the fire. The country’s president, Gordana Silianovska, spoke of unspeakable tragedy.

As local media reports, the club had only one exit and a few fire extinguishers. “I heard an explosion and then the roof collapsed. We all ran to get out of a door, which was also the entrance and exit of the club, ”he emphasized.

Pictures of social networking accounts captured chaos and destruction while flames were spreading and the DNK band singer called on everyone to evacuate the space as soon as possible. According to Kotsani Hospital Director Christina Serafimova, most deaths are due to the collapse of the roof as well as to tobacco inhalation and burns.

This is the largest tragedy in the country since the early 1990s. Their solidarity has already been expressed by European leaders with the leader of the Commission, Ursula von der Laeen, to express the solidarity of the European Union “to the people of Northern Macedonia” help. In particular, Athens has taken over all the burnouts requested by the European Civil Protection Mechanism and the 18 injured will be hospitalized at Papanikolaou Hospital in Thessaloniki and in military hospitals in Athens and Thessaloniki.