London and Belgrade – Dozens of people are said to have died in a fire in a nightclub in the south of the city of Kocani, in northern Macedonia, local authorities announced on Sunday.
The Associated Press reported that 51 people had been killed and at least 118 hospitalized in the incident, citing the remarks of the Minister of the Interior Panche Toshkovski to journalists.
A standard operator at Kocani General Hospital told ABC News: “It is a catastrophic tragedy.”
They have provided no additional information on the number or status of victims.
Emergency speakers operate outside a night club, following a fire, which leads to victims, in the city of Kocani, in northern Macedonia on March 16, 2025.
Ognien Teofilovski / Reuters
The director of the DNK group, who was performing in the nightclub when the fire broke out, told ABC News that the place had a maximum capacity of 500 to 700 people.
The group, which is made up of eight members, performed at the time of the fire and some of them were part of the injured, said the director.
As more and more details on the incident have emerged, the families of young people who attended the concert – some of them – asked for information on social networks, the sharing of telephone numbers and personal details in the hope that disappeared people can be found.
The fire started around 2:35 a.m., Toshkovski said, saying that the roof of the place was burnt down by the pyrotechnics used by the clubbers.
Toshkovski said the police arrested a man, but hadn’t given more details.
This photograph shows a view of a burned nightclub inside which a fire broke out and killed 51 people in Kocani, a city about 100 kilometers east of the capital Skopje, on March 16, 2025.
Robert Atanasovski / AFP via Getty Images
The Prime Minister of North of Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, wrote on X: “The loss of so many young lives is irreparable, and the pain of families, dear beings and friends is immeasurable.”
“The government is fully mobilized and will do everything necessary to manage the consequences and determine the causes of this tragedy,” added Mickoski. “In these times of deep sadness, when our hearts are broken in pain because of this terrible tragedy, I call unity, solidarity, humanity and responsibility.”
Among those who present condolences from abroad were the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “I wish those who have been injured in rapid recovery,” he wrote in an article at X. “Ukraine remains alongside our [North] Macedonian friends on this sad day. “”
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said his nation was ready “to provide assistance that may be necessary”.
The European Commissioner to enlarge Marta Kos said on X that she was “deeply saddened” by the “terrible tragedy”.
It is a story in development. Please check the updates.
Somayeh Malekian, from ABC News, contributed to this report.
