A fire tore through an overcrowded nightclub packed with mostly young people in North Macedonia early Sunday, killing 59 people, apparently after on-stage fireworks at a hip-hop concert set the venue ablaze, authorities said.

Some 155 people who were injured in the inferno had been taken to hospitals across the country, 22 of them in critical condition, officials said. Some of the more serious cases were taken to hospitals in other European countries.

Interior Minister Pance Toskovski said that more than 20 wounded and three of those killed in the fire were minors.

“At the time of the event around 500 people were inside, while 250 tickets were sold,” he said.

The blaze started in the Club Pulse in the eastern town of Kocani, which was packed with mostly young fans attending a concert by a popular hip-hop duo called DNK.

“The fire started around 2:30 am (0130 GMT), the sparklers that were on stage ignited the styrofoam on the ceiling. I heard an explosion and the roof collapsed,” one young person who was inside for the concert told local media.

“We all rushed to get out, we all ran towards one door that was for both entry and exit,” they were quoted as saying.

Another, a young woman waiting outside a hospital in the capital Skopje for a friend being treated for burns, said: “Initially we didn’t believe there was a fire. Then there was huge panic in the crowd and a stampede to get out.”

The fire was probably caused by pyrotechnic devices “used for lighting effects at the concert,” said Toskovski, who visited the scene with Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski.

“Sparks caught the ceiling, which was made of easily flammable material, after which the fire rapidly spread across the whole discotheque, creating thick smoke,” Toskovski said.

At a later press conference Toskovski said that the authorities were investigating whether “corruption” and “bribery” were linked to the deadly nightclub fire.

“This company does not have a legal license for work,” he said, referring to the club.

“This license, as many other things in Macedonia in the past, is connected with bribery and corruption. In this case, those involved in illegal issuance of license have names and will be held responsible,” he added.

More than 20 people were under investigation over the blaze, 15 of whom were in police custody, while others were in hospital, he said.

Among the suspects are the two members of the band, an owner of the club and organisers, among others.

A former director of the rescue services and a state secretary at the economy ministry were among those detained, he said.

The head of the Kocani hospital, Kristina Serafimovska, told media that “most of the dead unfortunately suffered injuries from the stampede that occurred in the panic while trying to exit”.

“Seventy of the patients have burns and carbon monoxide poisoning,” she said.

One of the members of the DNK duo that had performed, Vladimir Blazev, had burns to his face and needed assistance breathing, his sister told local media outlets.

– ‘Very sad day’ –

“This is a difficult and very sad day” for the country, Mickoski wrote on his Facebook account. “The loss of so many young lives is irreparable, and the grief of their families, their loved ones and their friends is immeasurable.”

The government proclaimed a seven-day mourning period and ordered flags lowered.

“A decision will also be made on an urgent and extraordinary inspection of all nightclubs, discotheques and restaurants that organise parties,” the government said in a statement.

Pope Francis sent prayers to the victims and survivors and wished “the families of the dead, mostly young people, the expression of his deep condolence,” the Vatican said in a message addressed to the bishop of Skopje, Kiro Stojanov.

Videos posted on social networks and shot before the fire showed there were “stage fountains” set up — a type of indoor fireworks used during performances.

Other videos published by media showed huge flames emerging from the building, a two-storey white structure in Kocani, a town with 30,000 residents.

An AFP photographer in the town saw military medical vehicles arrive to reinforce staff at the local hospital tending to some of the injured.

As the day unfolded, the leaders of neighbouring countries sent condolences.

Many of the patients in serious condition were transferred to other countries like Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Turkey.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said on X that she was “deeply saddened about the tragic fire” and that “the EU shares the grief and pain of the people of North Macedonia”. (AFP)

A 31-year-old Indian accountant, Vanapalli Chandra Kishore, committed suicide after k!lling his two sons, aged six and seven, over their poor academic performance.

Kishore left a suicide note stating that he realised his two children, who were in upper kindergarten (UKG) and class I, are not doing well academically and would struggle to establish themselves in a highly competitive world.

The gruesome incident happened at Ramanayyapet, in Kakinada town of Andhra Pradesh, on Friday night, March 14, 2025.

Sarpavaram police station inspector B Peddi Raju said Kishore worked as an assistant at the ONGC office, an oil company in Kakinada.

“He killed his two sons by tying up their hands and legs and drowning them in two buckets of water. The family is financially stable, so his actions are surprising,” the police officer added.

Kishore had married Tanuja Sai Rani in 2017 and the couple had two sons, Joshith (7) and Nikhil (6), who studied in a nearby private school.

Their neighbours said they found the couple to be normal and friendly. As the children were not doing well at school, the parents had decided to shift them to a better school from the new academic year and also made enquiries.

As Friday was a holiday for Holi, Kishore along with his wife and children had gone to the ONGC office at Vakalapudi village, in Kakinada rural mandal, to celebrate the festival with his colleagues.

A few minutes after reaching there, he told his wife that he would take the children to a tailor to get new school uniforms stitched. He left her in the office and went out with the children.

When they didn’t return for a long time, she called her husband on his mobile repeatedly, but he did not respond.

After some time, Kishore sent a message that he would be back in 10 minutes. But he did not return.

A worried Tanuja, along with one of his colleagues, went to their house and found the doors closed from inside.

When there was no response from inside even after loud knocks and calls, Kishore’s colleague called some locals and broke open the main door.

While Kishore was found hanging from the ceiling fan in one of the rooms, Joshith and Nikhil were found dead in the bathroom.

Their hands and legs were tied and their heads were dumped in buckets full of water.

“How the kids aged six and seven, in UKG and class 1, will fare in the real world cannot be judged so early. We are not sure what their father thought. There could be other reasons why Kishore took this extreme step,” a police officer stated on Saturday.

“We came to know that the kids had joined a new school recently and they were not coping well with the change, We are investigating all angles.”

Police are questioning Kishore’s wife and also seeking information from relatives who live in the same locality

A suspect in Mississippi was arrested after police said he beat his parents to death with a cinder block.

Police in Pascagoula said 39-year-old Darold Sim Payne was arrested after a four-hour standoff with law enforcement after he barricaded himself inside his home.

The Jackson County Coroner identified the victims as the suspect’s father and mother, 86-year-old Harold Payne and 72-year-old Jittuan Payne.

The coroner confirmed the couple both died of blunt force trauma.

Wednesday afternoon, officers responded to the home in response to a report of a fight in the front yard.

When officers arrived on the scene, they saw a man, later identified as Darold Payne, run into the house and barricade himself.

Officers from multiple agencies worked to contain the scene.

After attempts to negotiate with Payne, officers deployed tear gas into the home, which eventually caused him to surrender. He was then taken into custody.

Officials later confirmed two people, identified as Payne’s parents, dead outside of the home.

Pascagoula Police Chief Terry Scott said the parents and son lived together in the house. He doesn’t believe anyone else lived there.

Chief Scott praised the work of his team, along with the other law enforcement agencies that responded.

“We did everything we could to protect his life and get him into custody without hurting any officers or anyone else,” Scott said.

The double homicide case is being handled by the Pascagoula Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division.

The victims’ autopsies will take place Friday.