North Macedonia nightclub fire death toll rises to 60 after burn victim dies in Lithuania

# North Macedonia nightclub fire death toll rises to 60 after burn victim dies in Lithuania

Event date: 2025-04-04

The death toll from the nightclub fire in Kocani, North Macedonia, has risen to 60 after one of the most seriously injured burn victims died in Lithuania, according to the country’s health minister.

Health Minister Arben Taravari said Friday that he received word that a patient who had been among the four most critically injured had died while under treatment abroad. The AP reporting in the evidence packet says the patient had burns covering nearly 40% of the body and died after developing an infection and kidney failure.

The fire broke out on March 16 during a live concert at an indoor venue in the eastern town of Kocani. According to the evidence, pyrotechnics triggered the blaze. The nightclub was packed with mostly young people, and the incident left dozens injured. Officials said 650 people, including 31 minors, were inside when the fire started, while 196 people were hurt and 25 of the injured were minors.

The new death is part of a wider medical and legal response that has stretched across Europe. The most seriously injured victims were moved to hospitals in several countries with assistance from the European Union. The evidence packet places the latest death in Lithuania, showing how far some of the casualties had to be transferred for specialized treatment.

Authorities are also pursuing questions about how the fire began and why the venue was operating. Investigators were exploring allegations of fire safety violations and illegally obtained operating permits. The packet says 34 people remain in custody, including a former finance minister and seven senior police officers.

State Prosecutor Ljupco Kocevski said the suspects are being investigated for offenses that could carry prison sentences of up to 20 years if they are convicted. That means the disaster is no longer only a question of emergency response and hospital care, but also of possible criminal liability for people in public office and in policing.

The scale of the death toll has made the Kocani fire one of the deadliest nightclub disasters in recent regional memory. What stands out in the evidence is not just the number of dead, but the age profile of the victims and the public anger around regulation. Young revelers made up most of the dead, while families across North Macedonia and beyond have waited for updates on those still fighting for life.

The latest death underscores that the fire’s aftermath is still unfolding weeks later. Even after the flames were extinguished and the initial casualty count was known, the medical consequences continued across borders. The patient in Lithuania became another reminder that in mass burn cases, the toll can rise long after the initial event.

With the death toll now at 60, the focus is likely to remain on treatment outcomes, the criminal inquiry and whether the venue’s safety record and licensing were ignored. The evidence packet does not include any response from the facility operators or those under investigation, and no final findings have yet been announced.

What is clear from the supplied reporting is that a concert-night fire in Kocani has become a transnational tragedy: a local nightclub blaze, cross-border emergency medicine, a widening custody list and a death toll that continues to rise.