Turn in Bitola: man seen in dragging video was later found dead, dragged person alive
Bitola police identified the people in the viral video — the 39‑year‑old man who appears to be doing the dragging was later found dead; the dragged man is alive.
A sudden twist in the case out of Bitola: police say the man seen pulling an unconscious person along the pavement on Shirok Sokak is the same man who was found dead the following day in the yard of the Bitola Clinical Hospital.
Police identify those in the footage
“In relation to the video recordings from social networks, we inform you that the Bitola Regional Police Department has established the identity of the persons who are in the recording, and several persons have been summoned for official questioning to clarify the incident. We emphasize that the aforementioned deceased person, Y.I., in the yard of the Bitola Clinical Hospital is not the person who is being dragged in the video by another person,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
The ministry added that all people visible on the video have been identified and that investigations and official interviews are ongoing.
Hospital records show the deceased was brought to the Bitola Clinical Hospital by ambulance around 4:00 a.m. the previous night. He was examined in several departments — surgery, neuropsychiatry and psychiatry — and was scheduled for an X-ray. According to the hospital, he completed all examinations except the X-ray and then left.
The man, identified as 39‑year‑old Yashar I., was discovered the next day at noon in the hospital yard. Results of the autopsy determined that he died of cardiac arrest.
Police and the public prosecutor’s office have both confirmed they are working the case; multiple people who appear on the circulating footage have been called in for questioning as part of the probe.
Photo: press material from the event
