At least 50 people have been killed in a fire that broke out at a nightclub in North Macedonia where more than a thousand had gathered for a concert, the state news agency MIA reported.

Citing the interior ministry, MIA said “at least 50 people died in a discotheque in Kočani”, a town about 60 miles (100km) east of the capital, Skopje, where “around 1,500 people attended a concert”. AFP could not immediately confirm this information with the Balkan state’s authorities.

The agency reported that the fire broke out in Pulse, a nightclub in the small town with around 30,000 inhabitants during a concert by DNK, a hip-hop duo popular in the country.

The concert that started at midnight on Saturday was attended mainly by young people.

The online media outlet SDK reported that the fire started at 3am (0200 GMT), and gave a tally of more than 100 injured, citing rescue sources.

The wounded were taken either to the local hospital in Kočani or to Štip, about 20 miles south.

Local media speculated that the fire was probably caused by the use of pyrotechnic devices.