Tetovo, 16 September 2021 (MIA) — VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski said he went to the village of Nerashte near Tetovo earlier on Thursday to offer his condolences and speak to the sons of one of the 14 people who lost their lives in the Tetovo modular covid hospital fire on Sept. 8. Speaking to the press, he said the real culprits have to be found and have to be held responsible. Mickoski said he visited the victim’s bereaved family together with Member of Parliament Aleksandar Veljanovski. “We went to the family of one of those victims,” Mickoski told reporters in Tetovo. “They are still experiencing the horror that happened that day. I talked to the two sons of the mother who was a victim of those events. Part of what they survived, they shared with us, and I really can express my great sorrow because what I heard was really sad and tragic and painful.” “What we as VMRO-DPMNE can promise and pledge,” Mickoski continued, “and me personally, is that sooner or later we will see this to the end. The culprits for this must be held accountable.” “In Macedonia, fires happen much too often, failures happen much too often, which has now cost us human lives. “If no one is held accountable now, if no one is found guilty and there are no resignations at least by those who were in charge in this case — and that's the minister of health — if we don’t have an independent investigation, if we don’t have an investigation that will answer many questions I have asked publicly. . .” Mickoski said. “How come the building didn’t have any fire protection? Why wasn’t the oxygen measured? How is it that the building was put into use without a permit? I've asked many questions, but there are no answers,” he said. Commenting on Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s statement on Thursday that he wouldn’t resign because of the fire, the opposition leader said it was “really sad when a person identifies with his term in office in a situation where innocent lives have been extinguished.” “If this person doesn’t feel any moral responsibility and tries to interpret it as ‘if he left, Mickoski would be prime minister,’ then I really have nothing to say except this feeling of nausea I have at the moment.” The VMRO-DPMNE head also suggested government officials would meddle in the investigation. “As long as the minister of health, who is the one to be held responsible in this case, is in office, as long as his deputy is in office, as long as these people are running the government, we don’t expect an impartial investigation,” he said. “It is very clear: the building didn’t have a permit to be put into use, and it was put into use,” he noted. “What more is there to talk about? This calls for criminal accountability. This calls for 10 years of prison for those who allowed it to happen.” “What’s this investigation we’re talking about again?” he asked, adding the hospital had no fire suppression installations. “I’m an engineer. This is my conclusion. What other conclusions do we need to make?” Asked if he supports the announced protest of the Tetovo fire victims’ families on Friday, Mickoski said he and his party supported any peaceful protest expressing revolt using democratic means. mr/