Death Toll in Romanian Nightclub Fire Rises to 30

The three owners of the Bucharest nightclub engulfed by fire during a rock concert were questioned on Monday on suspicion of manslaughter, as the death toll in one of Romania’s worst disasters in decades rose to 31.

Andrei Sosa, the owner of Expirat in Bucharest, announced the permanent closure of his venue, which also has only one exit.

“I apologise and I take responsibility. Weekend after weekend and sometimes during the week”, he said.

In Iasi, a city in northeastern Romania, La Baza club apologized for not meeting minimum safety requirements.

“We consider we have been ignorant and irresponsible. We were lucky. We don’t want to put anyone’s life in danger”, the venue said on its Facebook page.

“The support is necessary to have a climate of security for citizens”, the statement said.

A few 90 people are still hospitalised in a serious or critical condition, many with complex burns.

Romanian media and witnesses have questioned safety regulations at the club.

A riot policeman places a candle, collected from people waiting to pay respects to the victims of a fire, outside the Colectiv nightclub, in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, November 2, 2015.

The country’s president awarded the national merit order to two of the victims, Adrian Rugina and Claudiu Petre, who died while saving others from the club.

Victor Ionescu, an attendee at the club, told local TV station Atena 3 that “people were fainting from the smoke” and that “it was total chaos, people were trampling on each other”.

Goodbye To Gravity guitarists Vlad Țelea and Mihai Alexandru were amongst those killed during the fire, while the other three members of the band were hospitalised by their injuries.

“It is not normal and normally this club should not have existed”, said Emergency Situations official Raed Arafat.

Monday’s victim was an unidentified man who had been in serious condition, with carbonization of the hands and forearms, stated Cristian Nitescu, the hospital’s medical director. He said a few cases need frequent operations and their wounds need to be cared for.

They said owners allowed “a fireworks show in the indoor venue that was improper as it… contained easily flammable materials illegally installed to avoid additional costs”.