Fires
are devastating – they can destroy property, take out
lives and have political ramifications too !
Bucharest is the capital and largest city, as well as
the cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It lies on the banks
of the Dâmbovița River,
less than 70 km (43.5 mi) north of the Danube River. Romania is a unitary semi-presidential
republic located in Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, Hungary,
Serbia, and Moldova. The Carpathian Mountains cross Romania from the north to
the southwest. The new state,
officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman
Empire in 1877. During World War II, Romania was an ally of Nazi Germany
against the Soviet Union, fighting side by side with the Wehrmacht until 1944, then
it joined the Allied powers after being occupied by the Red Army forces. After
the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition back towards democracy and a
capitalist market economy.
About
an hour before midnight the club was engulfed in flames because of a spark set
off by pyrotechnics. Some witnesses said there was an explosion, but this was
disputed and later dismissed by other sources. Media reported that club-goers
initially thought the flames were part of the show and did not immediately
react.When the ceiling caught fire, the approximately 300 to 500 people
panicked, hell broke loose, as they
rushed to the only working exit door at the venue, creating a stampede.
A
fire occurred at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, Romania on October 30,
2015, killing 32 people and wounding 179.The fire, the worst such incident in Romania
in the last 20 years, occurred during a free concert performed byheavy metal
band Goodbye to Gravity to celebrate the
release of their new album, Mantras of War.The band'spyrotechnics, consisting
of sparkler firework candles, ignited the club's flammable polyurethane
acoustic foam, and the fire expanded very quickly. Many of the victims were poisoned with toxins
released from the burning foam.
The
club's main shareholder &co-founder Alin George Anastasescu; two other
associates, Costin Mincu and Paul Cătălin Gancea, were arrested on November 2 for negligent homicide,
negligent bodily harm and negligent destruction. In the aftermath of the tragic fire, Romania
honoured two heroes – both of them had perished in the fire. Photographer Claudiu
Petre went back into the club twice, saving a woman before succumbing to his
injuries and drummer Adrian Rugina helped victims of the stampede before being
overwhelmed by thick smoke.Thousands of people including President AndrzejDuda
of Poland who is in Romania for an official visit, left flowers at the basement
club Colectiv where the tragedy happened. More than 130 people are still in
hospital 90 of them in a critical condition.
The
owners of the club are being held
responsible for allowing admittance to too many people in a venue not equipped
with sufficient emergency exits. Today
comes the news that Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has resigned, a day
after some 20,000 people took to the streets to protest over a nightclub fire
that left 32 people dead. Demonstrators called for Mr Ponta to step down,
complaining of government corruption and poor safety supervision. Mr Ponta is
already facing trial on corruption charges.In September, he became the first
sitting Romanian prime minister to go on trial over allegations of fraud, tax
evasion and money laundering.
He
has denied the charges, accusing prosecutors of being "totally
unprofessional". Concerns that safety was compromised because of corruption,
a long-standing issue in Romania, has fuelled public anger. Mr Ponta was one of
three people urged by the protesters to resign. They also singled out the mayor
of the Bucharest district where the nightclub fire occurred, and the interior
minister.The protesters chanted "shame on you" and
"assassins", and carried banners reading "corruption
kills".
Even
before the fire, Ponta had been under pressure from his opponents to resign,
but had refused. Romanians had also called for the resignation ofthe interior
minister, Gabriel Oprea, and the mayor of the district where the Colectiv
nightclub was located. Oprea over the on-duty death of a police motorcyclist on
20 October. He was in a motorcade that was easing a route through Bucharest for
Oprea.
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
4th
Nov. 2015.
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