The findings regarding the materials used in the building, especially the polyurethane acoustic insulation sponge, as well as the reconstructions and interventions on the structure of the building were the focus of the examination at Thursday’s court hearing into the Pulse nightclub fire case.
Professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Skopje Goran Markovski, in his capacity as an expert, answered questions from the defense of the first defendant Dejan Jovanov, lawyer Ivana Kocevska, about where the conclusion in the expert report that there was a polyurethane sponge on the suspended ceiling comes from. Markovski indicated that no remains of the sponge were found in the building, because it was completely burned, but that the conclusion is based on photo documentation, recordings, findings from other expert reports and traces found in the building.
“That’s actually the main problem. The entire sponge burned and practically no remnants of the sponge that could be used for construction expertise could be found in the building, despite the fact that we spent hours trying to find it,” said Markovski.
To the lawyer’s statement that no material sample of the sponge was found, Markovski replied, “unfortunately, none remained, because it was all destroyed in the fire.”
Regarding the question of whether the samples analyzed in the laboratory could have come from other polymer materials in the building, and not from the polyurethane sponge, Markovski stuck to the finding that such material had been placed on the suspended ceiling.
The assessment of the speed of the fire’s spread, according to the expert, was made based on multiple sources.
“Based on interrogations, statements, sentences in conversations with the competent services in the Fire Department, with which the fire was reported, that the fire spread very quickly throughout the entire facility, and also from the rescue… This assessment is based on conversations with the Fire Brigade in Kochani, on recordings that were available on social media and that were provided to us, and on knowledge of the behavior of such materials in the event of a fire,” said Markovski.
The trial is being led by Judge Dijana Gruevska-Ilievska, and the prosecution is represented by a team of 15 public prosecutors.
The fire that broke out in the Pulse nightclub in Kochani on March 16, 2026 claimed 63 lives and injured over 200.
