The death toll from last month’s Romanian nightclub fire climbed to 39 on Saturday, as seven more people succumbed to their injuries in a single day, the Associated Press reported.
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Romanian media criticized the authorities for failing to transfer a few of the wounded to hospitals overseas in time.
Many in Romania blamed lax government safety standards for the deadly blaze.
Anti-corruption prosecutors said they have opened a criminal investigation against the mayor of the city district where the club was located.
Parallel to countrywide protests, hundreds of people marched in silence in Bucharest towards the Colektiv nightclub, where 32 people died and almost 200 were injured on October 30 after fireworks used indoors at a concert set non-fireproofed insulation foam ablaze, triggering a stampede.
It led to mass protests and the resignation of the government led by Prime Minister Victor Ponta. Mayor Cristian Popescu Piedone resigned on November 4, saying he was morally guilty for the fire.
Adrian Stanculea, spokesman for the state burns hospital, said three men died at that facility on Saturday, while the manager at University Hospital, Catalin Cirstoiu, said a man there died of his injuries.
The two others passed away in the Netherlands, where they had been transported on Friday for treatment.
Interim prime minister Sorin Campeanu said a patient at the Floreasca emergency hospital in Bucharest also died and a second person died there later. She died at the Bagdasar-Arseni hospital.
Earlier on Friday, Romanian Health Minister Nicolae Banicioiu announced that 65 of the hospitalised were in serious and critical condition.
Late Saturday, a couple of thousand protesters gathered in Bucharest for the fifth consecutive evening, waving Romanian flags and calling for better governance and an end to corruption.
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Liviu Dragnea, leader of the ruling Social Democrats (PSD), the country’s biggest party, said several options had been discussed including a technocratic cabinet of experts, a broad-backed national unity government or even a snap election.
