A teenager who was out partying the night of the deadly North Macedonia nightclub fire has described his mother ringing him ‘frantically’ fearing he was one of the victims – and his terror that ‘it could have been me’.
Bobby Shafier, 18, a British-Macedonian whose family is from the capital city Skopje, was visiting the country when news of the blaze at Club Pulse in the town of Kocani broke.
The horrifying fire in the early hours of March 16, during a concert by DNK, a popular hip-hop duo in the country, left 59 people dead.
Flames rapidly spread through the venue following the deployment of pyrotechnics. Video posted online by Lider, a local radio station, showed them setting the ceiling of the club on fire.
Mourners gathered to pay their respects at a vigil on Sunday at the North Macedonian embassy in London, laying flowers and holding signs reading ‘Kocani in our hearts’ and signing a book of condolences.
The fire tore through the nightclub killing nearly 60 people, including all but one of the band, and leaving 155 injured from burns, smoke inhalation and being trampled amid a bid to escape towards the building’s single exit.
People as young as 16 were among the casualties and the nation declared seven days of mourning.
Mr Shafier, who laid flowers in front of the embassy, said: ‘I was actually in Macedonia when it happened. I was out clubbing the night before and I posted it on my Instagram story.
Huge flames engulf the Pulse nightclub in Kocani, North Macedonia, in the early hours of Sunday March 16, 2025
Video from inside the venue showed the use of pyrotechnics, with flames licking the ceiling (top left of shot) shortly after their deployment
Mourners take part in a minute’s silence during a vigil outside The North Macedonian Embassy in London on March 23 in memory of the 59 people who died in the Club Pulse nightclub fire in the eastern town of Kocani
‘I woke up to my family calling me, because my mum, who is Macedonian, had found out from a friend and she phoned me quite frantically, very worried.
‘The day after it happened I went past the hospital and it was full of people. Thankfully, I did not know anyone who was there but my friends knew people and we went to exchange stories of people they knew.
‘I had just gone for the weekend to see my family. The fact that I saw people in the hospital… It really got to me.’
Mr Shafier, who had been out at a separate nightclub in the country, said it had been a ‘horrible moment’ thinking ‘that could have been me”.
At 1.30pm, the gathering held a minute’s silence and Zaneta Skerlev, a former journalist for the BBC world service, gave a speech saying the Macedonian people are ‘not just united in grief but united in purpose’.
Ms Skerlev said: ‘There is anger and there is sadness. In Macedonia, everybody knows everybody and is within two degrees of separation of one another.’
Ms Skerlev and Bojana Reiner, 46, from Skopje, who knew the lead singer of the band, compared the tragedy to the Grenfell Tower fire and blamed the disaster on a lack of government regulation in the country.
Vida Milovanovic, an older lady from Skopje, whose friend knew a husband and wife who died in the disaster, leaving behind two orphaned children, said it was time for the government to ‘regulate and issue proper licenses’, adding: ‘The sadness is beyond words.’
A mourner places flowers outside the North Macedonian Embassy in London on Sunday ahead of a vigil for those lost in the nightclub fire
The entrance to the North Macedonian embassy in London, which features a sign reading ‘Macedonia’s shame: 59 lives sacrificed for profit’ and a red handprint
A shot of the burning nightclub, which shows the roof fully ablaze and an inferno raging inside the venue
The nightclub was hosting a concert by DNK, a hip-hop duo popular in North Macedonia, who were playing to more than 1,000 fans when the fire broke out
Flames rapidly spread across the ceiling of the nightclub as terrified concertgoers watched on
Flames surge under the roof of the Pulse nightclub in a blaze that would ultimately kill 59 people
A map showing the location of Kocani, the site of the nightclub fire, which is around 100 kilometres east of the North Macedonian capital Skopje
On the night of the nightclub fire, crowds gathered in Kocani for a candlelight vigil to those who lost their lives in the tragedy
People wait in lines to light candles in memory of the victims, while also praying for the scores of partygoers who have been injured
People comfort one another in the aftermath of the tragedy, which claimed at 59 lives
An exterior view of the club after the fire, with a huge hole visible in the centre of the roof where the fire damage was at its most severe
Barbara Irakoska, 35, also from Skopje, who has friends who knew people who died, said: ‘The whole thing is traumatic. It will last for a lifetime. Not just for the families, but for every young person in Macedonia who will have a huge trauma after this event.’
The North Macedonian ambassador to the UK, Katerina Stavreska, who did not organise the vigil but came to show her support, told PA: ‘It is a sad loss because it is a very small city, about 25,000 people. When they are having a wedding, the whole city is attending.
‘It is a tragic loss for the whole country. With globalisation, we are suffering a brain drain and now to lose 60 young lives in just an hour is truly a sad loss.
‘This is the way we are expressing our solidarity, which is in the blood of Macedonian people.’