North Macedonia probes 'corruption' over fire - 'It was just panic'

Authorities in North Macedonia are investigating whether "corruption" and "bribery" were linked to the weekend's deadly nightclub fire that killed 59 people.

The blaze at the hip-hop concert in the eastern town of Kocani also injured around 155 people and triggered an outpouring of grief in the small Balkan country. 

"This company does not have a legal license for work," Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said at a news conference, referring to the nightclub. "This license, as many other things in Macedonia in the past, is connected with bribery and corruption."

According to some witnesses, several hundred youngsters attended the concert, and said at the beginning of the fire many refused to follow requests to evacuate which dramatically increased the number of casualties. 

On Sunday evening in the center of the eastern town of Kočani, people came to light candles with hundreds queuing to pay their respects. It is an enormous tragedy for a city of only 30,000 people. 

The country lowered flags to half mast and planned memorials on Monday. 

The fire started as a crowd of young fans packed into Club Pulse to attend the performance by a popular hip-hop duo called DNK, with the blaze apparently ignited by fireworks onstage.

One of DNK's singers, Andrej Gjorgjieski, was killed and the other, Vladimir Blazev, was injured, while a guitarist, a drummer and a back-up singer also died. 

A local journalist, Ilčo Lazarovski, was among the first to come to the site. Asked about the rescuing mission, he told CGTN Europe: "When they found someone who was still alive, they put them in a car. There weren't enough emergency vehicles and the people in their personal cars took children to the hospitals.

"There was chaos in this street. Some were heading to the hospital, and others were coming to find their loved ones. The young ones were in panic with parents crying and screaming."

More than 20 people are under investigation over the incident, 15 of whom were already in police custody, while others were in hospital, according to the interior minister.

The list of suspects include the owner of the club, the organizer of the event, and people responsible for security. 

A former director of the rescue services and a state secretary at the economy ministry were also among those detained.

On Sunday, the head of the Kocani hospital, Kristina Serafimovska, said that many of those who had died "suffered injuries from the stampede that occurred in the panic while trying to exit."

The government has announced a seven-day mourning period. 

"Let us unite our forces, let us not allow anyone else to sacrifice standards for profit, nothing is more valuable than the lives of young people," North Macedonia's president Gordana Siljanovska said.

On Sunday, many cars of the concertgoers were still at the parking lot in front of the club. One father of a 23-year-old, Petar, who survived the worst and now is in hospital, told CGTN: "His hands are full of burns, his head as well, and he's complaining of having difficulties breathing, and they sent him to the hospital in Skopje."

Support from countries across Europe have also flooded in, with several patients in critical condition transferred to hospitals abroad.