There were about 400 people inside the Colectiv club to see a free show by local heavy metal outfit Goodbye to Gravity, according to the Associated Press.
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Romania’s emergency department said that 162 people were transported to hospitals throughout Bucharest.
Witnesses said fireworks, let off as part of the show, set fire to decorations causing a thick smoke in the underground club located in a basement.
The tragedy at a night club in the Romanian capital of Bucharest happened during a rock night that featured fireworks.
The authorities created seven help lines where people can inquire about their relatives and check whether they are among the dead: 021/2069291, 021/3130605, 021/2069283, 021/2648704, 021/2648525, 021/2069375 and 021/3122547. The country’s Deputy Interior Minister said numerous injured found their way to a local hospital on their own.
At present, 155 people are being treated across 10 hospitals – and at one treatment centre, 14 patients are in a critical condition.
The official death toll was raised to 27 early on Saturday morning and Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat said the toll may still climb further.
“There was a stampede of people running out of the club”, foreign media reported.
A guard was said to have tried unsuccessfully to extinguish the flames, but the fire apparently spread to sound-insulating material on the ceiling and wall.
“It is a very sad moment for us all, for our nation and for me personally”, the President added. However, numerous victims are yet to be identified.
Premier Victor Ponta cut short a visit to Mexico to return to Bucharest and declared decreed three days of mourning starting immediately for the victims.
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The fire appears to be the deadliest nightclub blaze since a 2013 fire at a nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil, killed 235 people.
