Guy Delauney
Vulcan correspondent
Reuters
Some of the cocanese carried a photo of their loved one who died in the flames
Thousands gathered at a cemetery in North Macedonia for the funerals of dozens of people killed in the nightclub fire on Sunday.
The flames tore a small pulse club in the town of Kokhani, killing 59 people and injuring more scores.
Officials say the club was illegally licensed because there was a shortage of sprinklers and the venue was a remodeled carpet warehouse, with a single emergency exit locked at the time of the fire.
As anger grows, more than 20 people are in custody, including government officials, police officers and club managers.
Funerals were held nationwide on Thursday for the deaths.
Kokhani’s funeral procession was long and, naturally, gloomy. This small town, with less than 30,000 people, has lost dozens of young people.
Many mourners have posted portrait photographs of the people they have lost. Some teenagers tried to hide their tears behind their sunglasses, while others were openly weeping.
The dead were buried in the Kokani cemetery. Orthodox church services continued.
At Skopje, around 1,000 people gathered for the funeral of Andrej Gorgieski, the 43-year-old singer of the band DNK, who played at the club when the fire broke out.
This day is for mourning, but there is rage over the corrupt practices that allow Pulse Nightclubs to work.
Protests against corruption took place across the country this week.
On Monday, some of the Kokhani destroyed a pub that Pulse Nightclub owners also said ran. Others threw rocks and smashed windows at the mayor’s office that same night.
Reuters
Violence flares up in Cocrani after a deadly nightclub fire
Anger and sadness prompted government inspections of cafes and nightclubs in North Macedonia for possible safety violations.
Investigators have now appointed all 59 people killed in the flames – most of them teenagers and young people.
The fatal fire began on Sunday around 02:30 local time (01:30 GMT) and spread rapidly as the ceiling is made of flammable material, Home Minister Toskovsky said earlier this week.
He said the capacity was well beyond the capacity of 250 tickets, which sold 500 people at the venue at the time, and “the basis for allegedly bribery and corruption” was linked to the fire.
More than 160 people were injured in the flames, including 45 people who were extremely seriously injured. Many were taken to hospitals in nearby Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey for specialized treatment.
