North Macedonia drama

Fire victims are treated in Vienna and Graz

A Hercules aircraft from the Austrian Armed Forces is used to fly seriously injured people to Graz and Vienna (symbolic image).(Bild: P. Huber)

Following the devastating fire inferno in a disco in North Macedonia, many seriously injured fire victims are being flown abroad for treatment - including to Austria. The first plane landed in Graz on Monday. Further patients are to be admitted in Vienna.

At least 59 dead and more than 150 injured - the fire tragedy in a nightclub in the North Macedonian town of Kocani shocked far beyond the country's borders. In the meantime, international aid has also started, 51 injured people have been taken abroad - including to Austria. 

Six seriously injured people - four young men and two young women aged between 16 and 24 - are to receive intensive medical care in Vienna and Graz. 

First plane lands in Graz
On Monday morning, an emergency team took off from Linz Hörsching to North Macedonia in a C-130 "Hercules" of the Austrian Armed Forces. The seriously injured fire victims were flown to Austria in three flights in special medical evacuation modules.

The first aircraft with two patients on board landed in Graz on Monday afternoon. One of the patients was transported to Graz LKH by the Austrian Armed Forces, another by the Styrian Red Cross. 

Austria's help in demand
The treatment of patients with severe burns is considered extremely complex, and most hospitals in south-eastern Europe are only equipped to a limited extent. 

For this reason, the North Macedonian Foreign Minister also contacted the Austrian ambassador in Skopje and asked for help. "In these difficult times, the whole of Austria stands closely by the side of our friends in North Macedonia. I wish all the injured a speedy and full recovery," said ÖVP Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker.