Locked-in teens killed in ‘escape room’ blaze

FIVE schoolgirls died as a fire broke out while they were playing a birthday party “escape room” game.

The 15-year-old girls suffocated after they were unable to leave a locked room in the attraction as the blaze raged next door.

A 25-year-old man also suffered serious burns during the blaze which started on Friday evening in Poland’s north-western city of Koszalin.

Officials are now checking every escape room in the country after firefighters blamed the tragedy on poor electrical wiring and lax security procedures.

The bodies of the girls were found after fire crews put out the blaze in the adjacent room.

Police said the girls were believed to have been celebrating the birthday of one of the group.

Escape room games involve being locked in a room and having to solve a series of puzzles to get out.

Polish president Andrzej Duda said the incident was an “appalling tragedy”, tweeting: “May God protect their parents and loved ones.”

As Koszalin’s mayor declared today a day of mourning, interior minister Joachim Brudzinski, said: “I’ve instructed the chief commander of the state fire brigade to carry out fire checks on all places of this type across the country.”

Poland’s fire fighting chief Leszek Suski said electrical wiring at the Koszalin site was makeshift and too close to flammable materials, while the man in charge was probably not there when the fire started.

Escape rooms are popular throughout the world and UK attractions have soared from seven in 2013 to more than 1,000.

They feature in game shows such as the Crystal Maze, which has sites in London and Manchester.

The world’s largest escape room is in Ontario, Canada.