Dozens of those killed in the fire at the "Puls" discotheque in Kočani will be buried today in that city in eastern North Macedonia.
The Macedonian government has proposed that due to the funeral, it be non-working day in Kočani.
All 59 victims of the unprecedented tragedy on the night between Saturday and Sunday have been identified and autopsies have been completed, said Interior Minister Pance Toskovski.
A total of 196 people were injured in the fire at the Kočani discotheque, 20 of whom were children, he said at a press conference at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) in Skopje.
Toškovski stated that 80 were transported for treatment abroad - to Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Austria, Lithuania, Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia.
The tragedy has led to a seven-day national mourning period, and citizens have been protesting for days, demanding accountability.
"Everyone who participated in any way in what happened will be held accountable, regardless of whether they are from VMRO-DPMNE, SDSM, DUI or any other party, regardless of whether they are Macedonians, Albanians or others, or whether they are Christians or Muslims."
"Anyone whose responsibility is established will be punished," Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told Sitel television.
There will be no stopping the investigation, and everything that was previously hidden or, as the Prime Minister said, swept under the carpet will be investigated in order to determine responsibility.
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On Tuesday evening, thousands of citizens gathered at Skopje's Macedonia Square where a 16-minute silence was held in memory of the victims.
They carried banners expressing revolt and calling for accountability, the portal reported. kurir.mk.
What did the investigation show?
A fire in a discotheque in Kočani broke out on March 16th, at 2.30:XNUMX am, due to the use of pyrotechnics during a concert by the group DNK.
It was located around 4.45, and according to estimates, there were around 500 people in the disco, although 250 tickets were sold, reports the Beta agency.
According to the investigation, the discotheque did not have a legal operating permit, did not have a hydrant network, nor enough fire extinguishers, pyrotechnics were used illegally, and there was no written contract between the organizers and the music group.
So far, 18 people have been arrested and 16 detained in connection with the tragic fire, reports Beta.
North Macedonia's State Prosecutor Ljupco Kocevski said that work is being expedited to prosecute the suspects, including former Economy Minister and official of the Albanian opposition party DUI Kresnik Bekteshi, and that he has immediately requested "short-term detention of up to 48 hours" for all of them.
The State Prosecutor's Office of North Macedonia also announced that seven police officers from Stip and Kocani are suspected of helping a discotheque illegally obtain an operating license and that they have been assigned a one-month detention.
An ambulance driver who spent the entire night transporting injured people in a fire in Kočani died on Monday morning. transmissions H1.
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