BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romanian police yesterday arrested the three owners of the Bucharest nightclub where a fire this weekend killed 31 people and left nearly 200 injured.
The fire at the Colectiv nightclub started on Friday when fireworks set off inside the club lit insulation foam on a pillar and spread quickly, starting a stampede and trapping many of the roughly 400 people inside.
Romanians, long critical of the way permits and licences are issued, blamed local authorities for failing to properly inspect clubs and other public spaces, expressing their anger on social media under the hashtag #CorruptionKills. After hours of closed-door hearings, prosecutors said they had issued 24-hour arrest warrants for club owners Costin Mincu, Alin George Anastasescu and Paul Gancea on suspicion of manslaughter. They plan to ask the court for 30-day warrants.
All three men declined comment.
“Data and evidence … have shown the fire occurred because the people managing the respective space encouraged and allowed a number of people above the club’s limit in a space that was not endowed with more emergency exits,” prosecutors said.
