The trial over the fire at the Puls club - the tragedy in Kočani in which 63 people died and over 200 were injured on March 16, 2025 - has entered a new, critical phase. On April 28, 2026, the presentation of material evidence begins, starting with the autopsy findings for the victims.

The trial is being held in Idrizovo before Judge Dijana Gruevska Ilievska, with a team of 15 public prosecutors. It began on November 19, 2024. So far the court has heard parents of the victims, survivors, eyewitnesses, inspectors, institutional representatives, and members of the band that played that night. The verbal-evidence phase is practically over.

Now come the autopsies. The ones that show - or are supposed to show - exactly what killed the people inside Puls. Whether it was the fire and heat, carbon monoxide, or cyanide from burnt interior materials. The prosecution confirmed that all toxicology, including cyanide testing in the victims' blood, is complete and will be presented through expert witnesses.

The prosecutors stress that the case isn't just about "the spark and the fire" - it's about the whole context: the conditions inside the venue, the overcrowding, the materials used, the toxic gases, and - perhaps most importantly - why so many people couldn't get out. Video from the scene will only be shown in segments relevant to the indictment.

More than a year after the tragedy, the trial moves slowly but it moves. The question the victims' families are still waiting for an answer to isn't just "who is to blame" - it's also "why was this even possible."