KOCANI, Republic of North Macedonia, March 16, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - North Macedonia's interior minister said on Sunday that authorities were investigating whether "corruption" and "bribery" were linked to a deadly nightclub fire that killed 59 people.

"This company does not have a legal license for work," Interior Minister Pance Toskovski told reporters, referring to the nightclub. "This license, as many other things in Macedonia in the past, is connected with bribery and corruption," he said at a press conference in Kocani, a small town in the east of the Balkan country, where the tragedy occurred during a concert.