British-Macedonian teenager says ‘it could have been me’ at club blaze vigil
Mourners gathered to pay their respects to victims of a nightclub blaze at the North Macedonian embassy in London.
A British-Macedonian teenager who was out clubbing the night of a deadly nightclub fire has described his mother ringing him “frantically” and thinking “it could have been me”.
The fire broke out at Club Pulse in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, in the early hours of last Sunday during a DNK concert, who are a popular hip-hop duo in the country.
Mourners gathered to pay their respects at a vigil on Sunday at the North Macedonian embassy in London, laying flowers and holding signs reading “Kocani in our hearts” and signing a book of condolences.
The fire tore through the nightclub leaving 59 people dead, including all but one of the band members, and 155 injured from burns, smoke inhalation and being trampled amid a bid to escape towards the building’s single exit.
People as young as 16 were among the casualties and the nation declared seven days of mourning.
Bobby Shafier, 18, whose family is from the capital city Skopje, laid flowers in front of the embassy and told the PA news agency: “I was actually in Macedonia when it happened. I was out clubbing the night before and I posted it on my Instagram story.
“I woke up to my family calling me, because my mum, who is Macedonian, had found out from a friend and she phoned me quite frantically, very worried.
“The day after it happened I went past the hospital and it was full of people. Thankfully, I did not know anyone who was there but my friends knew people and we went to exchange stories of people they knew.
“I had just gone for the weekend to see my family. The fact that I saw people in the hospital… It really got to me.”
Mr Shafier, who had been out at a separate nightclub in the country, said it had been a “horrible moment thinking ‘that could have been me’”.
At 1.30pm, the gathering held a minute’s silence and Zaneta Skerlev, a former journalist for the BBC world service, gave a speech saying the Macedonian people are “not just united in grief but united in purpose”.
Ms Skerlev told the PA news agency: “There is anger and there is sadness. In Macedonia, everybody knows everybody and is within two degrees of separation of one another.”
Ms Skerlev and Bojana Reiner, 46, from Skopje, who knew the lead singer of the band, compared the tragedy to the Grenfell Tower fire and blamed the disaster on a lack of government regulation in the country.
Vida Milovanovic, an older lady from Skopje, whose friend knew a husband and wife who died in the disaster, leaving behind two orphaned children, said it was time for the government to “regulate and issue proper licenses”, adding: “The sadness is beyond words.”
Barbara Irakoska, 35, also from Skopje, who has friends who knew people who died, said: “The whole thing is traumatic. It will last for a lifetime. Not just for the families, but for every young person in Macedonia who will have a huge trauma after this event.”
The North Macedonian ambassador to the UK, Katerina Stavreska, who did not organise the vigil but came to show her support, told PA: “It is a sad loss because it is a very small city, about 25,000 people. When they are having a wedding, the whole city is attending.
“It is a tragic loss for the whole country. With globalisation, we are suffering a brain drain and now to lose 60 young lives in just an hour is truly a sad loss.
“This is the way we are expressing our solidarity, which is in the blood of Macedonian people.”
