Day of mourning in Bulgaria on March 18 for victims of disco fire in N Macedonia
March 18 will be a day of national mourning in Bulgaria for the victims of the fire at a disco in Kocani in North Macedonia, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov said.
At least 59 people, most young, died in the March 16 fire and more than 150 were injured.
North Macedonia is holding seven days of national mourning as of March 17, Montenegro has declared March 17 a day of national mourning and Serbia will hold a day of national mourning on March 18.
In Bulgaria, on a day of national mourning, the national flag is flown at half-mast and planned celebrations are cancelled. If it is not possible to cancel a formal event, it should begin with a minute of silence or a speech in memory of the victims.
Zhelyazkov told reporters on March 17: “In absentia, the government will decide that tomorrow will be a day of national mourning as an expression of solidarity with our closest neighbor in the Balkans. There is no politics here, there is only compassion and empathy”.
As of March 17, there are 14 Macedonian citizens in hospitals in Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna, he said.
“I hope that the organisation we set up will be appreciated, but this is not the time to try to highlight our role, because in such moments it is important to show timely solidarity, we are ready to accept more people, this depends on our colleagues from the Republic of North Macedonia, we are in constant contact,” Zhelyazkov said.
The head of Pirogov emergency hospital in Sofia, Valentin Dimitrov, said that the condition of the Macedonians admitted to the hospital on March 16 was extremely serious.
Pirogov is currently treating eight patients, including three children under 18 years of age and five adults – four men and one woman aged 22-25, Dimitrov said.
“All are in serious general condition, except for one child who is in paediatric intensive care, all the others are in the burn clinics, the paediatric ward and the adult ward, respectively. They are in extremely serious condition,” he said.
Three of them are intubated, and the rest are still being assessed and what to do will be decided depending on their condition.
On March 16, by order of Zhelyazkov, a Bulgarian Air Force Spartan aircraft flew to North Macedonia and transported eight of the victims of the fire in Kochani to Sofia, five being admitted to two hospitals in Sofia and three being transferred to the Military Medical Academy in Varna.
Later, six more people in serious condition and on mechanical ventilation arrived in Bulgaria in ambulances with specialized equipment from the Sofia Central Emergency Medical Service.
The European Commission (EC) said on March 17 that North Macedonia had activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism requesting assistance to evacuate 15 patients suffering from severe burns.
In a swift reaction, nine European countries – Croatia, Greece, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Lithuania, Hungary, Luxembourg and Norway – made immediate offers of assistance via the mechanism.
Already, several patients have been evacuated to Hungary by Luxembourg and Romania is transporting patients to Lithuania, the EC said.
The EU is now coordinating the transportation of further patients to countries that have offered treatment, it said.
“The EU remains in close contact with the national authorities in North Macedonia and stands ready to mobilise more assistance if needed,” the EC said.
(Photo: Shannon Pifko)
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