site.btaHealth Ministry Sets Up Organization to Provide Medical Assistance to Injured in Kocani Fire

The Ministry of Health said Sunday that it has set up an organisation to provide medical assistance if needed to victims of the fire in North Macedonia. A task force headed by Health Minister Silvi Kirilov has been formed and necessary organisation has been set up to provide full medical assistance to those injured, if necessary.

Kirilov is in constant contact with his counterpart in North Macedonia and has assured Bulgaria's readiness to provide assistance and support. He expressed his sympathy to the injured and condolences to the relatives of the victims, the statement added. 

Discussions have also been held with the management of the medical institutions in the country for the admission and subsequent treatment of the severely wounded as well as the milder cases. The teams of the burn clinics at the Pirogov Hospital, Military Hospital Varna and Plovdiv's St. George Hospital. The teams of the Emergency Medical Aid Centres and the Air Emergency Medical Aid Centre are also on standby to respond if necessary.

Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said that Bulgaria had offered its assistance in the form of treatment to the victims of the fire.

A total of 51 people have died in a nightclub fire in North Macedonia. The blaze broke out in the early hours of Sunday in Kocani, a town around 100 km east of the capital, Skopje. Some 1,500 people were said to have been attending a concert. According to local media reports, the fire may have been caused by the use of pyrotechnic devices.