Skopje, 25 March 2025 (MIA) - The first of the 115 injured in the nightclub fire in Kochani who are receiving treatment abroad returned to North Macedonia on Tuesday afternoon. The patient was treated in Belgrade, Serbia, and will remain under observation at Skopje’s Toxicology Clinic.

The patient was welcomed by Health Minister Arben Taravari and Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski.

The head of the Toxicology Clinic, Andon Chibishev, said the patient is in a good state.

“For some time, a few days or perhaps until tomorrow he will remain under observation at the Toxicology Clinic. Some clinical tests are currently being done. He was examined, and he is in a good state, with good clinical parameters. We will carry out some tests just to be certain that we can let him go home to his family,” Chibishev said.

Chibishev said several teams of psychiatrists and psychologists will work with the injured who are being treated in the country and those who return from abroad.

“There is a lot of psychological trauma and stress. The patients will surely need psychiatric and psychological assistance,” Chibishev said.

Health Minister Taravari stressed all patients returning from abroad will remain under observation for at least 24 hours.

“Then the doctors here and the council of doctors will decide whether the patient needs to be sent to a different clinic, continue receiving treatment here or be discharged. We expect other patients to return in the coming days and I hope all 115 patients return alive and well to Macedonia and resume their normal lives,” Taravari said, adding that 8–10 patients are expected to return this week. 

Foreign Minister Mucunski noted that patients who are being treated abroad and are in a good medical condition will continue to gradually return.

“We have reports that the gradual return of patients from abroad that are in what could probably be classified as the best medical state will continue. But, we wouldn’t like to make premature statements, since this is a dynamic process, above all based on decisions by medical experts from abroad and those in the country. We remain fully available to the families, and we are in constant communication with the families and a good deal of patients,” Mucunski said.

The fire that broke out at the "Pulse" nightclub in Kochani on March 16 killed 59 people and left over 150 injured. Many of the injured are being treated in medical facilities across several European countries.

Photo: MIA/Screenshot