The fire began around 2.35 am (6.35 PM AEDT) on Sunday during a local pop group, according to Toshkovski.
He said that pyrotechnics caused the roof to catch fire.
The videos showed chaos inside the club, with young people running through the smoke while the musicians urged people to escape as quickly as possible.
The authorities said that the injured have been taken to hospitals throughout the country, including the capital, Skopje, many with severe burns. The effort was being assisted by multiple voluntary organizations.
The Minister of Health, Arben Taravari, said that 118 people have been hospitalized, adding that he had received assistance offers from neighboring countries, including Albania, Bulgaria and Greece.
“All our abilities have been used, in a maximum effort to save as many lives as possible from young people involved in this tragedy,” Taravari told journalists, sometimes they are visibly shocked.
This is the worst tragedy in recent memory to occur to the nation without coastline, whose population is less than 2 million.
“This is a difficult and very sad day for Macedonia. The loss of so many young lives is irreparable, and the pain of families, loved ones and friends is immeasurable,” Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski wrote in X, previously Twitter.
“People and government will do everything in their possession to at least slightly relieve their pain and help them in these more difficult times.”
The family members gathered in front of the hospitals and offices of the city of Kocani asking the authorities to obtain more information.
The club was in an old building that was previously a carpet warehouse and has been running for several years, according to local MKD.
The fire caused the roof of the single -plant building to collapse partially, revealing the carbonized remains of wooden beams and debris.
The police cordoned off the site and sent the evidence collection teams in an operation that also involved state prosecutors.
Toshkovski said the authorities would investigate the license and security provisions of the place, and added that the government had a “moral responsibility” to help process any responsible person.
The police have already arrested a man, but did not provide details about the participation of the person.
While they woke up with the news of the night tragedy, the immediate neighbors and leaders of the country further in Europe sent condolences.
The head of foreign policy of the European Union, Kaja Kallas, published in X that it was “deeply sad” and said that the block of 27 nations “shares the pain and pain of the people of Macedonia del Norte.” North Macedonia is a candidate for EU membership.
The condolences also reached politicians from all over the region, including the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, the European Commissioner of Expansion, Marta Kos and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“I want those who were injured a rapid recovery. Ukraine cries with our Macedonian friends (north) on this sad day,” Zelenskyy wrote in X.
