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A nightclub caught fire in North Macedonia early on Sunday morning, killing 59 people and leaving at least 155 injured.
Interior minister Pance Toskovski said the blaze was caused by pyrotechnic devices used during a concert at the nightclub Pulse in the town of Kočani in the Balkan country’s east. “Sparks caused a fire [which] spread through the discotheque,” he said.
The disaster, one of the worst such events in recent memory, drew condolences from leaders around Europe, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Slovenian politician and EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos.
Video from the event shows a band playing on stage flanked by two flares firing white sparks into the air, according to Reuters. The sparks set the ceiling alight above the band, who appear to step away as the video cuts. Dozens of people were hospitalised for burns and smoke inhalation.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said on Facebook that the government was “fully mobilised” and would do whatever was needed to determine the causes.
“In these times of deep sorrow, when our hearts are broken with pain over this horrible tragedy, I call for togetherness, humanity and accountability,” he said.
The last disco fire on this scale in the region took place a decade ago in Bucharest, Romania, when the Colectiv nightclub disaster claimed the lives of 64 people.
Within days, massive street protests began to demand the ousting of the Romanian government, which people blamed for corruption and lax oversight of security rules. That led to the resignation of the cabinet of social democratic premier Victor Ponta.
In Serbia, citizens have protested for months against government corruption after the collapse of a train station canopy in November, which killed 15 people. The demonstrations culminated in a rally of hundreds of thousands on Saturday in Belgrade, with some demanding the resignation of President Aleksandar Vučić.
Zelenskyy noted the “tragic news of a deadly fire in Kočani” and added “my condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones . . . Ukraine mourns alongside our Macedonian friends on this sad day”.
North Macedonia’s rightwing government took power after beating the leftist incumbents in elections last May. The country has been seeking to join the EU, but its accession bid has stalled amid difficult relations with neighbours Bulgaria and Greece.
Cartography by Ian Bott