Marija Taseva was enjoying a night out with her sister at the Pulse club in Kocani, North Macedonia, on Saturday when tragedy struck.
The two were watching DNK, a popular hip-hop duo, when a fire broke out, killing at least 59 people and injuring 155 others.
“Everyone started screaming and shouting, ‘Get out, get out!'” the 19-year-old told Reuters.
Panic spread as people desperately tried to escape, but with only one accessible exit for around 500 attendees, chaos ensued. The only other door, located at the back, was locked.
“I don’t know how, but I ended up on the ground. I couldn’t get up, and at that moment, people started trampling over me,” Taseva recalled.
She eventually managed to reach safety—but her sister did not.
“My sister died. I was saved, and she wasn’t.”
Authorities have arrested ten suspects believed to be responsible for the fire, including officials from the ministries that issued the venue’s license.
According to Interior Minister Pance Toskovski, the fire ignited around 2:30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. GMT) on Sunday when sparks from pyrotechnic devices struck the ceiling, which was made of highly flammable material.
The venue, described by local media as an “improvised nightclub,” was operating illegally. It had previously been a carpet warehouse and lacked a valid license, Toskovski said. Investigators are also examining potential links to bribery and corruption.
Dr. Kristina Serafimovska, head of the Kocani hospital, told reporters that most fatalities resulted from the stampede as people tried to escape.
“Seventy of the patients have burns and carbon monoxide poisoning,” she said, according to AFP news agency.
Vladislav Gruev, a specialist in reconstructive and plastic surgery at the University Clinic for Surgical Diseases, described the extent of survivors’ injuries.
“Most of them have severe burns covering more than 18% of their body surface, with second- and third-degree burns on the head, neck, upper torso, and upper limbs, including hands and fingers,” he explained.
‘Many young lives lost’
Inspections on Sunday uncovered multiple safety violations, including deficiencies in the fire-extinguishing and lighting systems, said public prosecutor’s office spokesperson Biljana Arsovska.
Outside the hospital, Red Cross volunteer Mustafa Saidov described the heartbreaking scene.
“Inside, where they are identifying the victims, the situation is far worse. You see that the parents are also quite young, in their 40s. Their children are 18 or 20 years old.”
“The situation is brutal, chaotic. The stories are devastating. Unfortunately, many young lives have been lost.”
For some families, the agony continues. One man, whose nephew was injured in the fire, said many are still searching for missing loved ones.
Dragi Stojanov, who lost his only child in the tragedy, expressed his grief with raw emotion.
“Let me tell you in front of everybody. Film me. I am a dead man—I lost everything. The whole of Europe should know,” he said.
“After this tragedy, what do I need this life for? I don’t need it. I had one child, and I lost him.”
North Macedonia’s President, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, vowed that those responsible would face justice.
“None of those accountable should escape the law, justice, or punishment,” she declared.
“Nothing is more valuable than human life—especially young lives.”
The most critically injured are being transported to specialist clinics in Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, and Turkey for treatment.
The government has declared seven days of national mourning and will hold an emergency session as part of ongoing investigations into the disaster.