Crowds demand justice for 59 killed in North Macedonia nightclub fire

By Fatos Bytyci

KOCANI, North Macedonia (Reuters) -Sporadic violence broke out in North Macedonia on Monday as thousands of people demanded justice for 59 people killed in a nightclub blaze and called for an end to the corruption that they say was behind the country's worst disaster in years.

The fire broke out during a hip hop concert in the town of Kocani at around 3 a.m. (0200 GMT) on Sunday when sparks from flares set a patch of ceiling alight. Hundreds of people scrambled for the unlicensed venue's only exit as flames spread across the roof.

The incident has shattered the town of 25,000 people, 50 miles (80 km) east of the capital Skopje. Bulldozers and workers with shovels dug a line of fresh graves in the town's cemetery on Monday. People with missing loved ones queued outside the hospital to give DNA samples in case their relatives were not immediately identifiable.

Officials said that the "Pulse" nightclub's licence was illegally obtained and that the venue lacked fire extinguishers and emergency exits. More than 150 people were injured.

"I want everyone who helped this place carry on with its business to be jailed," said 16-year-old Jovan, who said he lost a friend in the fire. "We need change because this is a corrupt country."

Jovan joined thousands of others in a quiet protest in Kocani's central square on Monday. People hugged and cried as they lined up to light candles for the dead and write messages of condolence.

Some held placards that read: "We are not dying from accidents; we are dying from corruption" and "Everything is legal here if you have connections". Hundreds more held a vigil in central Skopje. 

Violence broke out briefly when a group of people used rocks to smash out the windows of a pub that three protesters said was run by the same person who owned "Pulse". 

Later hundreds of people descended on the mayor's home, throwing rocks and smashing windows. Next door, a family who had lost a relative in the fire looked on in tears. 

NO WAY OUT 

The club, which local media described as a former carpet warehouse, is a squat building with a corrugated iron roof that backs onto a grassy vacant lot. It had just one emergency exit, which was locked during Sunday's concert, two fire extinguishers and no fire alarm or sprinkler system, North Macedonia's state prosecutor Ljupco Kocevski said. 

"It did not have two exit doors, but only one single improvised metal door at the back of the building, which was locked and without a handle on the inside," Kocevski said.

The ceiling was made of flammable materials and the plasterboard walls were not fire-resistant. Reuters pictures on Monday showed the club's roof burned through and collapsed in places, its interior wooden beams exposed and blackened.

"(The nightclub) operated in substandard conditions. It does not have this and that, and people were making money from it. Who is responsible?" said Sasa Djenic, a school teacher whose 15-year-old daughter escaped the fire with burns on her arms.

Draghi Stojanov's son died in the fire. "After this tragedy, what do I need this life for? I had one child and I lost him," he told Reuters.   

ILLEGAL LICENCE

Authorities have arrested about 20 people in connection with the fire, including government officials and the nightclub's manager.

State prosecutor Kocevski said his office was working to determine the criminal liability of a number of people for "serious offences against public security" and other crimes.

"The individuals acted contrary to the regulations and technical rules of the protection measures and thereby caused a danger to the life and work of people on a large scale," he said.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said the club's licence was issued illegally by the economy ministry and said that those responsible would face justice. Former economy minister Kreshnik Bekteshi was questioned by police over the disaster, the local TV 5 broadcaster said.

Fifty-one people were treated in hospitals in Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey. Burn specialists from Serbia, the Czech Republic and Israel were expected in North Macedonia on Monday to assist local medical staff. More would be taken to hospitals in Croatia and Romania, officials said.

(Additional reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade; Writing by Edward McAllisterEditing by Ros Russell and Gareth Jones)