Bulgaria is committed to the treatment of 14 victims of the fire in Kochani. This was stated by prof. Nikolay Gabrovski, BGNES reported.
Prof. Gabrovski said that eight of the injured will be accommodated in "Pirogov". So far, five people have arrived. "Three of them are on artificial pulmonary ventilation. They require their breathing to be assisted. Severe is the condition of the patients, we can not say anything more because they admitted at the moment. We will make every effort to treat them," he clarified at a briefing at Pirogov.
Three more people are expected to be admitted to the hospital, two of them will be children aged 15 and 16, as well as a 19-year-old man. They will also be intubated. Three people will be transported to Plovdiv and three to Varna.
The fire, which broke out in the early hours of today, caused the death of at least 59 people and 158 others were injured, 18 of them in a very serious condition.
Bulgaria dispatched the Spartan military aircraft which brought eight of the injured to our country.
Five more people in serious condition and on ventilators are expected to be transported to Bulgaria later today by ambulances with specialised equipment from the Sofia Medical Centre.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said there were no reports of any Bulgarian casualties at the moment. The Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje is in constant contact with the Macedonian authorities and continues to monitor the situation.
Because of the tragedy, North Macedonia declared a 7-day mourning. Police, fire and prosecution teams are on the scene in Kochani. The concert of a popular Macedonian band in the disco was attended by about 1500 guests. Local journalists told BGNES that the actual capacity of the club was no more than 700 people. The fire is believed to have started around 3 am.
The fire claimed the lives of three members of the band DNA, which was performing. A young Macedonian football hopeful also died in the incident.
The Interior Ministry in Skopje informed that all persons who were in any way connected with the organisation of the concert in the disco have been detained. Among them is the owner of the discotheque, which was previously a carpet warehouse. It turns out that the company owning the disco does not have a license.
The Ministry of the Interior is investigating the causes of the tragedy, there are interrogations of witnesses and responsible persons. The competent services are working to establish the causes of the tragedy. I BGNES