Fire at North Macedonia Nightclub Kills 59, Injures over 150

Rescue crews gather outside a night club, following a fire resulting in casualties, in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, March 16, 2025. (Reuters)
Rescue crews gather outside a night club, following a fire resulting in casualties, in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, March 16, 2025. (Reuters)
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Fire at North Macedonia Nightclub Kills 59, Injures over 150

Rescue crews gather outside a night club, following a fire resulting in casualties, in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, March 16, 2025. (Reuters)
Rescue crews gather outside a night club, following a fire resulting in casualties, in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, March 16, 2025. (Reuters)

Fire ripped through a packed nightclub early on Sunday in the North Macedonian town of Kocani, killing 59 people and injuring more than 150, officials said, after sparks ignited the roof above a live band.

Authorities arrested about 20 people in connection with the fire, including government officials and the manager of the "Pulse" nightclub, which did not have a legitimate license, Interior Minister Pance Toskovski told a press conference.

"We have a reason to suspect graft and corruption were involved in this case," he said, without providing details.

One video from the event, verified by Reuters, showed a band playing on stage flanked by two flares whose white sparks set a patch of ceiling alight. The fire spread fast and caused a panicked rush to the exits.

"Fire broke out, everyone started screaming and shouting: 'Get out, get out'," Marija Taseva, 22, told Reuters.

As she tried to escape, Taseva fell to the ground and people trod on her, injuring her face. In the rush, she lost contact with her sister, who did not make it out.

"My sister died," Taseva said, breaking into tears.

Toskovski confirmed that the fire, which began at around 3 a.m. (0200 GMT), was caused by "pyrotechnic devices" whose sparks triggered the blaze. He said 500 people were in the club when the fire started.

About 148 people were hospitalized in Skopje, Kocani and surrounding towns, Health Minister Arben Taravari said, adding that 20 people were critically injured.

Condolences flooded in from global leaders, including EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Pope Francis.

People searched for missing loved ones online and at hospitals across the country.

Simeon Sokolov, 50, found his daughter Anastasija at the emergency ward of the September 8 hospital in the capital Skopje, where she was being treated for burns and smoke inhalation.

"I just know that there are many children who have suffered," he told Reuters. "Doctors are doing their job and the number is big."

Some patients were transferred to neighboring Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece for treatment, authorities from those countries said.

INVESTIGATION

North Macedonia's Public Prosecutor Ljupco Kocevski said five prosecutors would investigate the incident.

"At the moment, orders have been issued for collecting of evidence" and some people were being interviewed, Kocevski said, without elaborating.

Toskovski said authorities had arrested members of the band, the son of the club owner and government officials.

Firefighters doused the charred and smoking entrance of the nightclub before dawn as ambulances rushed from the scene, TV footage from a local broadcaster showed.

Reuters pictures showed the club's corrugated iron roof burned through and collapsed in places, its interior wooden beams exposed and blackened.

North Macedonia Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said on Facebook: "This is a difficult and very sad day for Macedonia! The loss of so many young lives is irreparable, the pain of the families, loved ones and friends is immeasurable."

After visiting the injured in a hospital in Skopje, North Macedonia's President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, dressed in black and fighting tears, said authorities were ready to do everything to help all affected.

"I simply cannot comprehend this ... what a disaster, what a tragedy." 



Netanyahu’s Move to Fire Security Agency Chief Threatens New Crisis in Israel

Ronen Bar, new chief of the Israel Security Agency (also known as Shabak or Shin Bet), enters a vehicle at an undisclosed location in central Israel on October 11, 2021. (AFP)
Ronen Bar, new chief of the Israel Security Agency (also known as Shabak or Shin Bet), enters a vehicle at an undisclosed location in central Israel on October 11, 2021. (AFP)
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Netanyahu’s Move to Fire Security Agency Chief Threatens New Crisis in Israel

Ronen Bar, new chief of the Israel Security Agency (also known as Shabak or Shin Bet), enters a vehicle at an undisclosed location in central Israel on October 11, 2021. (AFP)
Ronen Bar, new chief of the Israel Security Agency (also known as Shabak or Shin Bet), enters a vehicle at an undisclosed location in central Israel on October 11, 2021. (AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bid to dismiss a top security official has threatened to plunge Israel back into deep political crisis, with opponents on Monday organizing protests and a former court president warning against the "dangerous" move.

Netanyahu on Sunday cited an "ongoing lack of trust" as the reason for moving to sack Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, following a similar bid by the government to oust the attorney general.

Bar, who has been engaged in a public spat with Netanyahu in recent weeks over reforms to the agency, suggested there were political motives behind the premier's decision to ask the government to dismiss him.

Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara -- the executive's top legal adviser who has often taken positions that clashed with those of Netanyahu's government -- said the move was "unprecedented" and its legality needed to be assessed.

Bar said it stemmed from his own refusal to meet Netanyahu's demands for "personal loyalty".

The agency led by Bar has been accused of failing to prevent the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

Several opposition parties have already announced they will jointly petition the High Court against Bar's dismissal, and the attorney general said in a letter to Netanyahu that he could not initiate the process "until the factual and legal foundation of your decision is fully clarified".

Baharav Miara is herself under threat of a no-confidence motion submitted by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who has spearheaded efforts to reform the judiciary and curb the court's powers -- a plan that sparked major protests before coming to an abrupt halt with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.

Levin has accused Baharav Miara, a fierce defendant of the judiciary's independence, of "inappropriate conduct" and cited "significant and prolonged disagreements between the government and the attorney general".

The proceeding against the two figures promise to be lengthy, risking a repeat of the 2023 protest movement that was one of the most significant in Israel's history and had deeply fractured the country.

- 'Blow to national security' -

The Kaplan Force, a liberal umbrella organization which led the fight against the judicial reform, on Monday announced rallies in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv this week to protest the dismissal of the Shin Bet head.

The move to sack Bar, who has been involved in negotiations over the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, comes at a crucial time for the talks.

The truce has largely held since January 19 despite an impasse in efforts to extend it.

Since the Gaza war began, Netanyahu has dismissed his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, while several senior military officials have resigned including army chief Herzi Halevi.

Benny Gantz, an opposition figure who once served as defense minister under Netanyahu, said on X that "the dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet is a direct blow to national security and a dismantling of unity within Israeli society, driven by political and personal considerations."

Former Supreme Court president Dorit Beinisch told Kan public radio that Netanyahu was leading "processes that are dangerous for society".

"We need to wake up, and to wake up in time," she said.

- 'Power-grab' -

For Netanyahu's allies, the move against Bar falls within the normal rights of the head of government.

"In what normal country is a special reason even needed to remove the head of an intelligence organization who is personally responsible for a massive intelligence failure that led to the greatest disaster in the history of Israel?" far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on Telegram.

Nahum Barnea, columnist for the daily Yedioth Ahronoth, warned of the dangers stemming from the clash between Netanyahu and Bar.

"A prime minister who has lost his brakes will rule as he sees fit, and his failed government will follow in his wake," he wrote.

"It is gradually inching us closer to a form of civil war... in which there is no trust and a refusal to obey in security organizations".

For Amir Tibon, writing for the left-wing daily Haaretz, "Israeli democracy is now in grave danger".

"It's up to Israelis to decide if they'll accept Netanyahu's hostile power-grab -- and how far they will go to stop it".