Dubai Telegraph - Hip-hop gig blaze kills 51 at North Macedonia nightclub

EUR -
AED 4.011471
AFN 76.929235
ALL 99.449011
AMD 426.595758
ANG 1.96388
AOA 996.122496
ARS 1161.990645
AUD 1.725496
AWG 1.96603
AZN 1.861143
BAM 1.955781
BBD 2.200178
BDT 132.398683
BGN 1.955781
BHD 0.410796
BIF 3228.767893
BMD 1.092239
BND 1.454386
BOB 7.529925
BRL 6.275574
BSD 1.089689
BTN 94.716058
BWP 14.845852
BYN 3.566065
BYR 21407.887117
BZD 2.188778
CAD 1.56851
CDF 3141.280158
CHF 0.964175
CLF 0.026459
CLP 1015.359903
CNY 7.905464
CNH 7.90727
COP 4495.055301
CRC 544.394586
CUC 1.092239
CUP 28.944337
CVE 110.263904
CZK 25.119866
DJF 194.03807
DKK 7.491017
DOP 68.519319
DZD 145.393554
EGP 55.123452
ERN 16.383587
ETB 143.124177
FJD 2.502364
FKP 0.8444
GBP 0.843917
GEL 3.031007
GGP 0.8444
GHS 16.867235
GIP 0.8444
GMD 78.085537
GNF 9472.013248
GTQ 8.415231
GYD 228.262047
HKD 8.489718
HNL 27.99804
HRK 7.564634
HTG 145.351809
HUF 400.63251
IDR 17860.013334
ILS 3.980393
IMP 0.8444
INR 94.96875
IQD 1431.168473
IRR 45877.18966
ISK 146.352962
JEP 0.8444
JMD 170.538727
JOD 0.774441
JPY 162.342823
KES 141.666418
KGS 95.516323
KHR 4370.088132
KMF 493.437974
KPW 983.02534
KRW 1585.105785
KWD 0.337283
KYD 0.895648
KZT 547.429799
LAK 23650.246625
LBP 98550.258128
LKR 323.640547
LRD 217.54004
LSL 19.844679
LTL 3.225099
LVL 0.660685
LYD 5.256939
MAD 10.582743
MDL 19.432342
MGA 5106.557504
MKD 61.579901
MMK 2293.438222
MNT 3793.542138
MOP 8.745059
MRU 43.655636
MUR 49.096886
MVR 16.885929
MWK 1893.281199
MXN 21.773842
MYR 4.856596
MZN 69.438548
NAD 19.844679
NGN 1690.362665
NIO 40.003339
NOK 11.621866
NPR 152.021226
NZD 1.900803
OMR 0.420512
PAB 1.092239
PEN 3.995778
PGK 4.428558
PHP 62.551715
PKR 305.931957
PLN 4.192489
PYG 8723.826347
QAR 3.976159
RON 4.996017
RSD 117.660592
RUB 93.39153
RWF 1534.461096
SAR 4.096304
SBD 9.283802
SCR 16.31603
SDG 654.309979
SEK 11.07276
SGD 1.457552
SHP 0.858328
SLE 24.936225
SLL 22903.7098
SOS 624.531126
SRD 39.642451
STD 22607.144948
SVC 9.557496
SYP 14201.135104
SZL 19.844679
THB 36.597423
TJS 11.897003
TMT 3.829768
TND 3.361929
TOP 2.62555
TRY 40.011891
TTD 7.436826
TWD 36.015878
TZS 2874.356319
UAH 45.488348
UGX 4003.686699
USD 1.092239
UYU 46.57462
UZS 14141.55797
VES 71.89413
VND 27857.616208
VUV 134.299464
WST 3.07847
XAF 657.917299
XAG 0.03233
XAU 0.000366
XCD 2.949086
XDR 0.819698
XOF 657.917299
XPF 119.331742
YER 269.521504
ZAR 19.857567
ZMK 9831.466852
ZMW 31.402503
ZWL 351.700557
  • RBGPF

    66.0200

    66.02

    +100%

  • RELX

    1.1200

    48.93

    +2.29%

  • NGG

    0.8900

    63.21

    +1.41%

  • SCS

    0.2000

    10.99

    +1.82%

  • VOD

    0.0500

    9.55

    +0.52%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    39.49

    +0.66%

  • RIO

    1.8400

    63.04

    +2.92%

  • CMSC

    0.0500

    23.22

    +0.22%

  • RYCEF

    0.0500

    10.4

    +0.48%

  • CMSD

    0.1500

    23.35

    +0.64%

  • JRI

    0.0335

    12.83

    +0.26%

  • BCC

    2.9700

    99.35

    +2.99%

  • AZN

    1.0900

    77.6

    +1.4%

  • BCE

    -0.1990

    23.47

    -0.85%

  • BP

    1.0200

    33.39

    +3.05%

  • BTI

    -0.0200

    41.36

    -0.05%

Hip-hop gig blaze kills 51 at North Macedonia nightclub
Hip-hop gig blaze kills 51 at North Macedonia nightclub / Photo: Robert ATANASOVSKI - AFP

Hip-hop gig blaze kills 51 at North Macedonia nightclub

A fire tore through a nightclub in North Macedonia early Sunday, killing 51 people, apparently after on-stage fireworks set the place ablaze, the country's interior minister said.

Text size:

More than 100 people were injured in the fire in the Club Pulse in the eastern town of Kocani, with some taken by helicopter to hospitals and clinics in the capital Skopje, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) away by air, Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said.

The establishment had been packed with more than 1,000 mostly young fans to see a popular hip-hop duo called DNK when the fire started around 3 am (0200 GMT), local media reported.

Toskovski said the fire was probably caused by the use of pyrotechnic devices "used for light effect at the concert".

As they were set off, "the sparks caught the ceiling, which was made of easily flammable material, after which the fire rapidly spread across the whole discotheque, creating thick smoke," he said.

Toskovski visited the site of the tragedy early Sunday with the Balkan country's prime minister, Hristijan Mickoski.

"This is a difficult and very sad day" for the country, Mickoski wrote on his Facebook account.

The loss of so many young lives is irreparable, and the grief of their families, their loved ones and their friends is immeasurable," he said.

"The people and the government will do everything in their power to soften their grief and help them in this very difficult time."

Videos posted on social networks and shot before the fire showed the use of "stage fountains", which are a type of indoor fireworks used during performances.

Other videos published by media showed huge flames emerging from the building, a two-storey white structure in Kocani, a town with 30,000 residents.

- 'Human tragedy' -

An AFP photographer in the town saw military medical vehicles arrive to reinforce staff at the local hospital tending to some of the injured.

"According to the data we have by now, 51 people lost their lives," Toskovski said after visiting the scene.

"More than 100 persons are injured," Toskovski added.

Leaders of neighbouring countries offered help.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rossen Jeliazkov spoke on Facebook of the fire being "a huge human tragedy" and offered to have his air force fly some of those injured to medical facilities in the Bulgarian capital Sofia and the city of Varna.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on X, formerly Twitter, that he sent "heartfelt condolences to the people of North Macedonia for the lives lost in the tragic fire".

"Greece stands ready to assist in this difficult time," he added.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said he was "at a loss for words" and expressed readiness "to provide any assistance that may be needed".

There were also messages from parts of the European Union, which North Macedonia has ambitions to join.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said on X that she was "deeply saddened about the tragic fire" and that "the EU shares the grief and pain of the people of North Macedonia".

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Bluesky that "the news of the terrible fire... is shocking. People who wanted to celebrate carefreely were brutally torn from life." She wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

K.Al-Zaabi--DT