In mourning the Northern Macedonia Following the incompetent tragedy unfolded at dawn of March 16, with 59 people losing their lives during fire that broke out in a nightclub in the city of Kotsani.
A country of mourning, an endless fatal, mixed with screams of anger and anger, and a “why” accompanies every reference to the tragedy. Northern Macedonia is burning today, Thursday (20.03.25), the dead of the fire, in a tragic news that has shocked world public opinion.
As one crosses the border from the Evzone Station to Northern Macedonia, Flags encountered along the way ride in midstieswhile the once vibrant rhythm of the Balkan music on the radio has given way to mournful sounds, analogous to the surrounding atmosphere.
At a large -scale petroleum gas station, shortly before Gevgeli, the treasurer is difficult to keep her tears when we ask her for guidance for Kotsani. “We lost our children, it is inconceivable what we live in” He says, with the employee who had just filled the tank to fill in: “We didn’t even have a war, such a tragedy.”
As we approach Kotsani, the presence of the police is growing, giving directions to those who want to reach the cemetery, where shortly thereafter, the last act of a tragedy that the area has not seen, as it said in the Athenian-Macedonian agency, will be played by the Athenian-Macedonian. Capital, Skopje.
“Today is not time for words, it is time for our dead children” He added, as he went where 24 graves were dug by each other, to welcome the dead.
“Another 7-8 tombs are scattered above,” he explained to us and asked us to be discreet in the pain of relatives as there is pervasive discomfort because of some photos that, he said, saw the light of publicity in the past 24 hours.
In the special area that is bounded in a corner of the cemetery for media representatives after a car at the view of the camera, a car stopped in the street and said in a voice strong: “No Photos!” (not photos).
Next to the freshly grafted graves, a platform is set up, with about 20 workers patiently waiting in one corner. At the same time groups of the Red Cross are on alert for whatever happens, while journalists and other media professionals from neighboring countries are completing the scene in the cemetery, with police constantly giving instructions.
Most of the 59 victims of the tragedy were from Kotsani, where today at noon, their funeral will be held in a very heavy climate, led by the Archbishop of the Orthodox Church of Northern Macedonia, Stephanou.
Earlier the funerals of some of the victims in the STIP will become. “It is certain that this wound will not close soon. And we won’t forget, “a resident of Kotsani said, among the many volunteers in the space wearing black t -shirts, bearing the inscription:” Rest in peace, my dear angel. “
The human stories behind the tragedy
Last Sunday morning, Tony Aitovski (Toni Ajtovski) was at the Kotsani police station, where a press conference on the tragedy had occurred a few hours earlier in a nightclub in the city when his phone began. At the other end of the line was his wife, who informed him that The godfather of their son, who was in the club, did not answer his mother’s phone calls.
“I immediately ran to the hospital to look for if they were among the injured there,” Tony Ayski, a correspondent at the News Agency one in the area, told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.
“I began to ask, if there was someone there under the name Alexander Ephremov. There was already a large crowd of people already in the hospital and everywhere heard howls and voices » Aitofsky describes, who unable to find someone to get the information he was asking for, turned to the Red Cross.
His son’s godfather, the Aleksandar Efremov was the official photographer of the concert of the popular DNK band at the nightclub, which caught fire at dawn last Sunday, leading to 59 people. Since the incident became known, his mother has repeatedly called on him, with her phone calls, however, remaining unanswered.
“In the hospital, doctors were running nonstop. I gave his name to some Red Cross volunteers in order to write him on the list and search for him. I was told that they would see if he was in the hospital here, in Kotsani, or if they had carried him elsewhere. No one knew if he was alive or if he had been seriously injured » Aitofsky continues the narrative.
As the situation remained confused and awaiting some information about the fate of his godfather, he decided to return to the press conference and follow the developments in the field of information.
“At some point, my wife called me and told me they were invited to the hospital for recognition (from photos). I prayed not to be true and not to be in the photos. We both headed for the hospital. She arrived earlier. He called me on the phone and said to me: is he, with number 25 in his blouse. My eyes were darkened, it was about to leave my mind, “Aidofsky recalls.
Scenes of ancient tragedy in the hospital
At the hospital, where it arrived a little later, scenes were already unfolding reminiscent of ancient tragedy. “The crowd was even bigger as other relatives who had identified their own people, their children began to arrive. I found my wife among the crowd, paid and speechless by evolution. And I didn’t know what to say …
And the question was who would tell relatives what we already knew. It was impossible for us to do it. We asked a volunteer to tell them to come from the Stip, where they stay, to Kotsani Hospital, but without explaining the situation. Within half an hour they had arrived and searched for my wife and me. I approached them and hugged them … They understood it all. Darkness and silence. “
Shortly afterwards, Ephremov’s family, who did not have a good time to complement three decades of life, was entering the room where his body was, erupting in endless lament.
Today we will go to the funeral of a beautiful young man, who will be dressed in a few months, “says Aidovsky as an epilogue of one of the 59 separate stories of people who have so unjustly passed away.
THE Alexander Ephremov He will be buried in his hometown today at noon. At the same time, some other victims will be buried in Stip, and an hour later there will be the funeral of most victims in the city of tragedy, Kotsani.