(20 Mar 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kocani, North Macedonia – 20 March 2025
1. Various of coffins being brought for funeral of victims of North Macedonia nightclub fire, mourners gathering
STORYLINE:
Coffins were brought to the mass funeral for many of the 59 victims of North Macedonia’s deadly nightclub fire on Thursday.
Family and friends had gathered for the ceremony at the graveyard in the eastern town of Kocani, where the blaze happened on March 16.
Most of the victims — the 59 killed and dozens injured in a frantic escape — were in their late teens or early 20s, enjoying a night out with friends at Kocani’s Club Pulse.
There was live music, drinks and dancing until flames ripped through the packed club.
The tiny Balkan nation has been on the candidate list to join the European Union for 20 years, but the process has been held up by disputes with neighbors and the slow pace of vital reforms, undermined by volatile partisan politics and stagnation, has dimmed residents’ prospects.
Polling in 2024 shows that they support EU membership, but less than 20% believe their nation will join within five years.
Corruption is another dispiriting feature.
The Berlin-based monitor Transparency International ranked North Macedonia in 88th place globally on its Corruption Perception Index last year, one of the worst in Europe.
Authorities say Club Pulse had numerous and serious safety violations, while Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said the venue’s operating licence was for the wrong type of establishment and potentially obtained illegally.
AP video shot by Florent Bajrami
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