Bulgaria sends ambulances, aircraft to aid N Macedonia after disco fatal fire
On the orders of Bulgarian Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov, a Bulgarian Air Force Spartan transport aircraft flew to North Macedonia’s capital city Skopje to bring to Bulgarian hospitals five people seriously injured in a fire in a disco on Kocani, the Bulgarian government information service said on March 16.
At least 59 people died and 155 were injured in the nightclub fire in the early hours of March 16, the BBC reported.
The Bulgarian government information service said that Bulgarian medical teams consisting of resuscitators and burn specialists were aboard the Spartan aircraft.
The injured will be accommodated in specialized burn wards in medical institutions in Sofia and Varna.
In addition, the hospitals in Sofia, Varna and Blagoevgrad has been urgently put on standby to receive injured persons if necessary.
Bulgarian hospitals are ready to receive more injured people after coordination with the authorities of the Republic of North Macedonia, the Bulgarian government said.
Bulgaria’s Health Ministry said on March 16 that a headquarters, headed by Health Minister Silvi Kirilov, had been set up to provide full medical assistance to victims of the fire, as required.
The ministry said that talks had been held with the management of medical institutions in the country for the admission and subsequent treatment of seriously injured, as well as those with minor injuries.
The teams of the burn clinics at Pirogov Hospital, the Military Medical Academy-Varna and Sv Georgi Hospital in Plovdiv were on standby.
Six ambulances with six medic teams left Bulgaria for North Macedonia on Sunday, the Emergency Medical Centre Sofia told Bulgarian news agency BTA. The ambulances have been reinforced with additional oxygen cylinders.
A seven-day mourning period is expected to be declared at a meeting of the government in North Macedonia and a rapid and comprehensive inspection of all restaurants, nightclubs and other venues where large gatherings are held, aimed at preventing similar incidents, Bulgarian National Radio reported.
(Photo: government.bg)
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