Emergency services gather near a club in Bucharest after an explosion on October 31, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
At least 27 people were killed and more than 160 injured after a fire ripped through a nightclub in Bucharest late on Friday, in one of the worst accidents to hit the Romanian capital.
The blaze broke out at around 11pm at the Colectiv night club, where hundreds of people had gathered for a gig by rock group Goodbye to Gravity. Hospital sources said the death toll could rise as at least 25 people were in critical condition.
“This is the worst tragedy of its kind” to have ever happened in Bucharest, said the secretary of state for the interior, Raed Arafat.
Witnesses quoted by local media described scenes of chaos when fireworks, let off as part of the show, set fire to a pillar and part of the ceiling. The crowd panicked as thick smoke engulfed the room, leaving people scrambling to escape from the underground club located in a communist-era basement.
“People were fainting, they were fainting because of the smoke. It was total chaos, people were trampled,” witness Victor Ionescu told local television station Antena 3.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2015.
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