The State Prosecutor’s Office of North Macedonia announced today that the investigation into the tragedy at the Puls disco in Kočani has been expanded to include 19 new people, including Minister without portfolio in the Government of North Macedonia, Šaban Saliu, and three former ministers of economy.
According to unofficial information from Telma Television, Saliu was previously the director of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue, while former ministers of economy are Valjon Saračini and Bekim Neziri, and the current director of the Directorate is Dževat Selami.
Among the suspects is the Ambassador of North Macedonia to Norway, Driton Kuči, a former minister of economy who announced on social media that he was returning to Skopje to make himself available to the investigative authorities.
With the latest arrests of suspects in the Kočani tragedy, it is clear that the Prosecutor’s Office’s investigation covers the period from 2012, when he started working at the Puls cabaret, according to Telma.
Previously, 33 people were suspected in the investigation into the fire at the Puls disco in Kočani, including former Economy Minister Krešnik Bekteši and three companies.
The fire at the Puls disco in Kočani, 100 kilometers east of Skopje, killed 61 people and injured almost 200.
The fire broke out on Sunday, March 16, at 2:30 a.m. due to the unauthorized use of pyrotechnics at a concert by the group DNK, and there were about 500 visitors in the disco at the time, Srna writes.
