PRODUCTION: Macedonian Radio-television - MRT1
DISTRIBUTION: Macedonian Radio-television - MRT1
COUNTRY: Macedonia
YEAR: 2023
LENGTH: 77′
DIRECTED BY: Trifun Sitnikovski

On 8 September 2021, a fire broke out in the COVID-19 patient hospital in Tetovo, a small town in north-western Macedonia, killing fourteen people - twelve patients and two family members. Immediately after the accident, the Macedonian government stated that the hospital had been ’built in accordance with all required procedures and standards«. However, a team of investigative journalists launched an enquiry that revealed a government conspiracy to cover up the case. The IRL team worked in Skopje and Tetovo for more than seven months, collecting documents, analysing the data obtained and untangling complicated procedures and contradictory reports from the experts involved. This investigation by the Investigative Reporters Laboratory (IRL) is part of the »Newsroom« programme, created by filmmakers and journalists with the aim of amplifying the impact of investigative journalism in a region marked by crime and corruption.