Young people help heal trauma of N.Macedonia's deadly nightclub fire
Young people help heal trauma of N.Macedonia's deadly nightclub fire
Most of the 62 people killed in the devastating nightclub fire in Kocani, North Macedonia, last March were between 16 and 26 and it is young people who are taking the lead in helping the town recover from the tragedy.
In the aftermath of the fire a group of volunteers, including some survivors, mobilised to help their community overcome the trauma.
State institutions alone, they said, could not manage the aftermath of a tragedy on this scale.
They raised money to buy equipment for hospitals and fund transport for the survivors being treated sometimes in hospitals abroad.
More recently, they have expanded their work to offer psychological support not just for the victims and their families, but for the town as a whole.
The March 16 blaze that erupted during a hip-hop concert at the night club "Pulse" was one of Europe's deadliest fires.
Of the 62 who died, 46 were from Kocani, and most of the 200 injured were locals as well.
In this eastern town of fewer than 30,000 inhabitants, it left a deep scar.
When campaigners began the "Support Kocani", one of the first things they posted was a map of all the European cities where the injured had been sent for treatment.
They started fund-raising and posted details of the donations that went to individual patients as the money came in. To date, the total raised stands at around 600,000 euros .
They also posted videos of survivors telling their stories, such as 25-year-old software engineer Jordanco Evtimov.
Evtimov spent 23 days in a hospital in Skopje being treated for his injuries. He still wears protective gloves on his hands and has visible burn marks on his head.
But as soon as he left hospital, he joined the group to help out.
"I decided to stay here because I know that my help can contribute," he said.
Their efforts were helping to fund the treatment of youths still recovering in hospitals, at home or abroad, he added.
Now, he spends afternoons with other "Support Kocani" volunteers in a house in the town centre. They work on the website and the fund-raising so they can keep helping victims of the disaster and their families.
They are also trying to raise awareness of the trauma that the disaster caused not just to those directly affected by the tragedy but to the town as a whole.
"We know that there is no money that can compensate the loss of their loved ones," one of the group's founders, Nenad Vrzalski, told AFP.
"But we think that our support is needed so they can overcome this. We are also trying to provide psychological support."
So far, more than 50 fundraising concerts, football matches and other humanitarian events have been organised under the "Support Kocani" hashtag, Vrzalski said.
That has helped fund rehabilitation for the injured not covered by the state system, for which they themselves would otherwise have had to pay.
And gradually, the work done by "Support Kocani" has gradually expanded.
Now, they are focussed on creating a permanent centre for injured young people and for other victims where they can work on overcoming their trauma.
And with "SupportKo", their newly established NGO, they have expanded into more political territory.
An app its members launched this month allows citizens to report wrongdoing to the town authorities and to follow up on whether the authorities are responding.
But the donations, public attention and engagement from the authorities have fallen off in recent weeks, said computer programmer Ivan Ivanovski, one of the group's founders.
"We need to exert constant pressure, so that the public and the authorities do not forget Kocani and its people," he said.
On the evening of the tragedy the Pulse nightclub was crowded with about 650 people, investigators say.
Among the serious safety violations recorded by the prosecutor's office were the lack both of fire extinguishers and the legally required number of emergency exits.
The negligence involved, and the suggestion of corruption it implied, has brought thousands of protesters out on to the streets to demand justice.
To date, prosecutors investigating the case have placed more than 60 people under investigation, from police officers to former and current government officials.
But relatives of those killed or injured in the fire are not satisfied.
In the protests they stage every Saturday in Kocani, they highlight what they say has been a selective approach to the investigation that overlooks the deep-rooted nature of the corruption involved.
Part of the anger can be explained by the fact that 15- to 29-year-olds represent just 18 percent of the nation's 1.8 million population. Many young people have simply left the country to find work.
In the meantime, "Support Kocani" continues its own work.
"As long as Kocani needs it, we will be there," Ivanovski said.
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This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
