TV footage showed police officers and paramedics trying to resuscitate young people lying on the pavement while sirens wailed with more ambulances deployed to the scene.
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The Facebook event page for the party describes the “customized light show and pyrotechnic effects” that had been prepared.
Survivors of a deadly nightclub fire and stampede in Romania say the lead singer of the heavy metal band on stage at first made a joke about the fire before it engulfed the basement club in downtown Bucharest.
The spark ignited an acoustic pillar cased in polystyrene, causing fire to spread to the ceiling and the club to fill up with smoke. The band Goodbye to Gravity was playing in the club at the launch of their newest album.
Oprea branded the incident a “tragedy” and his ministry said several telephone lines have been set up to keep friends and family of those hurt informed.
Another said people began fainting from the smoke.
A prosecutor and fire specialists will investigate the scene and determine how the fire started, she said.
Many people admitted to 12 hospitals had suffered burn, smoke inhalation injuries or were trampled.
At present, 155 people are being treated across 10 hospitals – and at one treatment centre, 14 patients are in a critical condition.
The government declared three days of national mourning and were holding an emergency cabinet meeting this morning.
There were between 300-400 people in Colectiv Club, and a few of them remain unaccounted for, officials said.
Identifying the victims has proved hard as many were not carrying IDs.
Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis stated in a press release: “I need to guarantee you of all help from rescuing forces and ask you to belief they put all efforts to restrict the influence of this disaster”. People rushed to the entrance but it was too narrow, and people panicked.
“It is a very sad moment. for our nation”, he said.
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Romania’s prime minister, Victor Ponta, who was on an official trip to Mexico, has cut short his visit to return to Bucharest.
