Skopje, 29 April 2025 (MIA) - The families of the victims of the March 16 fire at the “Pulse” nightclub in Kochani concluded their protest march in Skopje on Tuesday with a meeting with Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski.

Minister Toshkovski told the families that there must be justice “if we want to have a normal country”, noting that he can’t share any details in the interest of the investigation. The Minister stressed that suspects in the case include “an incumbent minister, the current head of the Protection and Rescue Directorate and an incumbent mayor” after the families called for accountability and non-selective justice.

Before the meeting, Toshkovski apologized to the families for not having met all of them earlier.

“Please, let’s sit down and talk and set politics aside. I am ready to discuss everything you are interested in, not today, not yesterday, but we can talk for an entire year if you want. I apologize that I haven’t met with you until now, I have met some of you, I have spoken to some of you, but not all, so I apologize from the bottom of my heart for this,” Toshkovski said.

The families began their march in front of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, where some of the families met with the public prosecutor and the team of prosecutors leading the investigation. The protest continued in front of Parliament, where they called for accountability and resignations from the MPs. In front of the legislature, they met with MPs from opposition parties Levica and SDSM, including SDSM’s leader Venko Filipche.

The deadly blaze that broke out at the “Pulse” nightclub on March 16 took the lives of 62 people. Sixty-eight people and three legal entities are included as suspects in the investigation of the deadly fire after it emerged the nightclub operated without a valid license and was in violation of multiple safety codes.  

Photo: MIA