'It was chaos inside, I almost lost my child', says angry father after nightclub fire

Record ID: 1983801

  • Title: 'It was chaos inside, I almost lost my child', says angry father after nightclub fire
  • Date: 17th March 2025
  • Summary: KOCANI, NORTH MACEDONIA (MARCH 17, 2025) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF NIGHTCLUB WHERE FIRE KILLED AT LEAST 59 PEOPLE POLICE OFFICER STANDING OUTSIDE VARIOUS OF DESTROYED ROOF DESTROYED DOOR POLICE OFFICER OUTSIDE VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS PUTTING TAPE AROUND SCENE VARIOUS OF TEACHER IN LOCAL SCHOOL AND FATHER OF SURVIVOR, SASA DJENIC, WHOSE 15-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER WAS INJURED, AT S
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Family Fire Kocani Nightclub North Macedonia Survivor
  • Location: KOCANI, NORTH MACEDONIA
  • City: KOCANI, NORTH MACEDONIA
  • Country: Macedonia
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Fires,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001931117032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The father of the person injured in the North Macedonia nightclub fire that left at least 59 people dead and more than a hundred injured said the club was always chaotic, and his daughter had barely managed to escape in the mayhem.
    Sasa Djenic's daughter managed to get out but suffered burns, and told her father the pyrotechnics that had caused the fire had been in the middle of the room, preventing those behind from getting out.
    A teacher in a local school, he said the club had always been chaotic, with cheap tickets and taxis unable to approach due to the crowds.
    Djenic said he was one of the lucky ones, but that only made it harder in a town where everyone knows someone who had lost a child. Two of his friends were not so lucky and lost their children.
    "It is not easy for me. I could have lost my only child," he said. "How will I live among these people?
    Authorities arrested about 20 people in connection with the fire in the town of Kocani, including government officials and the manager of the 'Pulse' nightclub, which did not have a legitimate license, North Macedonia's interior minister told a press conference.
    About 148 people were hospitalised in the capital Skopje, Kocani and in surrounding towns as well as being taken to neighbouring countries for treatment.
    (Production: Fedja Grulovic, Dragan Kastratovic, Anna Lubowicka)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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