A horrific tragedy at a Bucharest nightclub has sent Romania into three days of mourning and resulted in the arrest of the venue owners.
Reuters reports that the death toll has climbed to 31 with nearly 200 people injured following a blaze that occurred at the club Colectiv during a performance from the band Goodbye to Gravity. The fire was said to be started by pyrotechnics set off as part of the group’s set with some patrons unaware that the danger was not a part of the show. 400 people were inside the venue which was located in the basement of a Communist-era factory.
The combination of fire, smoke and one functioning exit led to a stampede towards safety. Concertgoer Victor Ionescu described the disturbing scene to Antena 3 TV:
“People were fainting, they were fainting from the smoke. It was total chaos, people were trampling on each other.”
Three Colectiv co-owners have been arrested for suspected manslaughter and questioned following Friday’s tragedy. Prosecutors were highly critical of the way the venue’s approach to safety:
“Data and evidence … have shown the fire occurred because the people managing the respective space encouraged and allowed a number of people above the club’s limit in a space that was not endowed with more emergency exits.”
The tragedy prompted the Romanian government to declare a three-day period of national mourning and approximately 20 clubs canceled their original Halloween plans out of respect for the deceased. President Klaus Iohannis has promised an inquiry to help prevent another incident happening in the future.
“I visited burns patients from last night’s tragedy,” he said. “I spoke to a patient’s mum. People are disgusted that such a thing could happen and I hope we manage to have results of the inquiry as soon as possible and to change norms so that things like this never happen again.”
CNN reports that the Colectiv nightclub fire is the deadliest blaze of its kind since 242 people perished in the Kiss nightclub fire that took place in Santa Maria, Brazil in 2013.