The „Puls“ Trial Continues: A Locked Exit, an Empty Hydrant and a Municipality Without an Inspector for Ten Years

The trial over the fire at the „Puls“ club in Kočani is continuing, and the prosecution - a team of 15 prosecutors - is bringing new witnesses and evidence. And it is right here, in the courtroom, that the thing that matters most to every family struck by the tragedy is being decided: whether anyone will be held to account, and whether the system that failed will be named.

The testimony being presented sketches a picture of institutions that looked the other way for years. An inspector from the Directorate for Protection and Rescue testified that, after the fire, the investigation uncovered serious violations - a lack of fire extinguishers, an empty hydrant and a locked evacuation exit. Worse still: the municipality of Kočani, as it was stated, went more than a decade without a dedicated inspector for protection and rescue.

Another witness, from a security firm hired in the period before the tragedy, described how internal communication flowed and what instructions they received for securing large events. The prosecution also submitted phone records, documentation on the venue's licensing, and video showing the arrival time of the police and the activation of the pyrotechnics.

Every one of these details is not just a legal fact - it is a piece of the answer to the question of how it was even possible for a venue to operate with a locked exit and an empty hydrant. A locked evacuation exit is not a technical trifle; it is the difference between life and death when a fire breaks out. And ten years without an inspector in a municipality is not chance, but a system left to rust.

The court process is still ongoing, and no report can bring back what was lost. But what the court must now do is establish clearly who signed off, who failed to check, and who allowed the rules to exist only on paper. For the families, this is not revenge - it is the minimum of justice a state owes them. And that is the only reason trials like this must be followed to the end, rather than forgotten once the headlines cool.