Kocani Death Toll Rises to 61

On Monday, the Kocani fire death toll rose to 61, i.e. a patient receiving treatment for severe burns in Lithuania, 29-year-old Aleksandar Gavrilovski from Probistip, died.

Prior to the news about the 61^st death, Health Minister Arben Taravari had said that though there was room to criticise, what mattered was that only one of the 193 injured patients (Aleksandar Karadakoski) had died.

According to him, the decision to send part of the patients abroad was the right one because even countries such as Turkiye and Germany, i.e. ones with big capacities, wouldn’t have been able to manage over 190 patients with burns. Taravari also said his Ministry and the cabinet had done everything they could.

“My conscience is clean”, Taravari added.

The Minister again called on the Government to shed light on the Kocani tragedy, Tetovo hospital fire, and Laskarci and Struma bus accidents. Later that day, i.e. after it had been confirmed that Gavrilovski had died, Taravari stated that his condition had been critical since the start.

The condition of another two patients is critical as well. 66 and 10 patients are receiving treatment abroad and domestically, respectively.