KOCANI, North Macedonia: Authorities in North Macedonia are appealing for calm as student groups called for fresh protests on Tuesday (Mar 18) following the horrific nightclub fire that killed 59 people and injured more than 150 over the weekend.
The disaster, which occurred early on Sunday at Club Pulse in the eastern town of Kocani after pyrotechnics were used during a concert there, has sparked outrage over alleged corruption and safety violations.
Demonstrations took place Monday in both Kocani and the capital, Skopje, with some turning violent – protesters in Kocani overturned a van and hurled rocks at a municipal building. “We must call once again for reason,” Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski said in an interview with private Sitel television late on Monday.
“We must allow the prosecuting authorities to do their job so that in the end we can finally normalise the state.”