Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business Top Stories

30 people die in Bucharest club fire seemingly caused by pyrotechnics

By | Published on Monday 2 November 2015

Goodbye To Gravity at Collectiv Club

30 people have died and dozens more are in a critical condition after a fire at a Bucharest nightclub on Friday night.

The blaze took place at the Colectiv Club in the Romanian capital during a free concert by local metal band Goodbye To Gravity. It is thought that the fire began after pyrotechnics ignited polystyrene decor, which it turn caused a pillar and the venue’s ceiling to catch light. According to various reports, the venue soon filled with heavy smoke leading to panic as audience members ran for the exit.

One eyewitness told local TV station Antena 3: “People were fainting, they were fainting from the smoke. It was total chaos, people were trampling on each other”. Meanwhile a local journalist, Sorin Bogdan, told the BBC that the club, based in a converted factory, had just two small exit doors, only one of which was open at the time. It is thought up to 400 people were at the concert.

Although specific details about the incident are yet to be clarified, there seem to be parallels with the Great White gig in Rhode Island in the US in 2003, in which pyrotechnics caused a fire that killed 100 fans and the band’s guitarist. More recently, in 2013, a fire at a nightclub in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria killed 242 people. Again, the blaze was caused by the unsafe use of pyrotechnics.

The number of people killed in the Colectiv Club fire rose to 30 yesterday, with local media reports suggesting two of the band are among that number. Officials say that 155 more people were treated for injuries after the fire, and that they fear the death toll could as yet double in number. Emergency response chief Raed Arafat told the BBC that “the only information we have is that fireworks were used in the club and after that the tragedy happened. Of course, this is under investigation”.

Thousand of people marched silently through Bucharest this weekend in memory of the victims, while Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis wrote on his Facebook page that he was “deeply grieved by the tragic events” adding: “It is a very sad day for all of us, for our nation and for me personally”.



READ MORE ABOUT: |