section_path: Fire
section_name: Fire
paragraph_text: Fire
  
  At 2:35 am on 16 March 2025, about 650 people were attending a concert of Macedonian hip-hop duo DNK in the Pulse Nightclub, although only 250 tickets were sold. The club was filled with twice of its legal capacity. Perpendicular sparkling gerbs, a type of indoor firework, were lit by DNK during their performance at approximately 2:32 am. Their sparks ignited flammable acoustic foam sheets that burned across the roof structure, rapidly engulfing the entire venue in flames and toxic smoke.
  
  Videos of the pyrotechnics and subsequent fire showed attempts to extinguish the flames, with some patrons observing the firefighting while others evacuated. One survivor said that she shouted at a group of children to leave the disco, but they laughed at her. Survivors reported a crowd crush when people rushed towards the club exits, and some victims were trampled to death while trying to escape the club. One survivor described being trampled by the crowd after falling down the stairs. A band member urged the crowd to evacuate during the firefighting, stating: "Everyone get out, we'll be back". Some of the victims attempted to escape through the club's bathroom, but were met with barred windows. A 19-year-old, Jovan Kostadinov, rescued 21 people from the club.
  
  The first call to emergency services was received at 2:48 am. Fire crews from nearby cities were also deployed. The rescue efforts were hampered by the inability of firetrucks to access the nightclub, as it was located in a densely populated neighborhood. Authorities rushed dozens of injured people to nearby hospitals in Štip, Kočani and Skopje.