The fire broke out around 2:35 a.m. during a concert by a local pop group, as young clubgoers used pyrotechnics that caused the ceiling and roof to catch fire, the minister told local media.Robert Atanasovski/AFP via Getty Images

At least 59 dead, dozens injured in nightclub blaze in North Macedonia – POLITICO

by · POLITICO

A huge fire early Sunday in a nightclub in North Macedonia killed at least 59 people and injured more than 150 others in the town of Kocani, Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski said.

The fire broke out around 2:35 a.m. during a concert by a local pop group, as young clubgoers used pyrotechnics that caused the ceiling and roof to catch fire, the minister told local media. Kocani is about 100 kilometers east of the capital of Skopje.

Toshkovski told reporters that four people have been arrested in connection with the blaze, including a former general secretary of the finance ministry. Some 20 people in total are suspects; most of them have been detained, while others are among those injured or dead.