Thousands gather to mourn at Northern Macedonia Night Club

Thousands have gathered at cemeteries through northern Macedonia for the funerals of dozens of people killed in a fire at the nightclub on Sunday.

The blaze was torn through the small pulse club in the town of Kokani, killing 59 and injuring more results.

Officials claim that the club has illegally received its license, that it lacks sprinklers, and that the site has been converted a carpet warehouse whose only emergency exit was locked during the fire.

More than 20 people have been detained, including government officials, police officers and club manager as anger has grown.

The funerals were held across the country on Thursday for the dead.

The funeral procession in Kokani was long – and understandably gloomily. This small town with less than 30,000 people lost dozens of its young people.

Many grieving held portrait pictures of the people they had lost. Some teenagers tried to hide their tears behind the sunglasses, but others cried openly.

The dead were buried side by side in Kokani’s cemetery. Orthodox church service had to follow.

In Skopje, about 1,000 people gathered for the funeral of Andrei Gorgiski, a 43-year-old singer in the DNK group, who was performing at the club when the fire broke out.

While the day is for mourning, anger grows over corruption practices that allowed Pulse nightclub to work.

Protests against corruption were held across the country this week.

On Monday, some of Kokani even vandalized a pub, in which they said that the owner of a nightclub Pulse was also driving. Others threw rocks and broke the windows in the mayor’s office that evening.

Anger and grief prompted government inspections of cafes and nightclubs in Northern Macedonia for any possible safety disorders.

Investigators have now indicated all 59 people killed in the flame – most of them teenagers and young people.

The deadly fire started around 2:30 local time (01:30 GMT) on Sunday and quickly spread, as the ceiling was made of flammable material, said Interior Minister Pump Toskovski earlier this week.

He said that at that time there were 500 people who had a capacity for the 250 tickets sold and that there were “grounds for suspicion that there was a bribe and corruption” related to the fire.

More than 160 people were injured in the flame, including 45, who suffered very serious injuries. Many have been flew to hospitals in neighboring Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey for specialized treatment.