Romania is assisting North Macedonia after the deadly nightclub fire on Sunday, March 16, by transporting four patients to hospitals abroad. The fire that broke out at a club in Kočani claimed the lives of at least 59 people and injured 155 others.

The four young people in critical condition are being flown to Lithuania on C-27J Spartan aircraft of the Romanian Air Force. They cannot be treated by hospitals in Romania since available hospital beds are "very limited,” according to the head of the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), Raed Arafat.

"North Macedonia requested support from the EU through the European Protection Mechanism. Several countries offered hospital beds but lacked transportation capacity. At this moment, our mission is underway, having already departed from Skopje to Lithuania, transporting four young patients who are intubated, ventilated, and in critical condition," Raed Arafat said on Monday, cited by G4Media. 

He added that the aircraft is expected to arrive in Vilnius around noon on Monday. According to the Ministry of Defense, during the flight, the patients are monitored by a medical team provided by SMURD and the Bucharest Emergency Clinical Hospital.

Romanian interim president Ilie Bolojan sent a message of condolences following the deadly fire at the club in Kočani.

 "We are deeply saddened by the devastating fire in Kočani, North Macedonia. We extend our condolences to the families who lost their loved ones and wish a swift recovery to the injured," Ilie Bolojan wrote in a post on the X platform on Sunday afternoon. He added that Romania stands in solidarity with the people of North Macedonia during these tragic times. 

Other European leaders also voiced their condolences, with European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen saying the EU "stands in solidarity with the people of North Macedonia in this difficult time,” according to the BBC.

The blaze broke out around 02:30 AM local time on Sunday at the Pulse club in Kocani, where about 500 people had gathered for a concert by DNK, a popular hip-hop duo in the country. Only one member of the band survived, and many of the injured were taken to specialist clinics in Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey.

The club, located in a town around 100km east of the capital, Skopje, has been described as an "improvised" in the local press, having previously been a carpet warehouse. Biljana Arsovska, spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office, said there had been only one exit in the building, as the venue's back door was locked.

Police detained 15 people after the fire. Interior minister Pance Toskovski has said the detainees will be questioned, adding that there are "grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption" linked to the fire. He said that the venue did not have a legal license to operate and had deficiencies in the fire-extinguishing system.

Citing initial reports, Toskovski also said the fire had been started by sparks from pyrotechnic devices that had hit the ceiling, which was made of highly flammable material. 

The fire in North Macedonia is reminiscent of the deadly fire that broke out on the night of October 30, 2015, at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, during the launch of a new album by the rock band Goodbye to Gravity. Also started by pyrotechnics, the fire claimed 65 lives, many due to infections acquired in hospitals. Nine years after the deadly Colectiv club fire, Romania still has no major burn unit.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Ministerul Apararii Nationale)