Romanians mourn as death toll rises
Romanians wept, cursed and prayed Sunday as they mourned the victims of a fire in a nightclub, while doctors warned the death toll could rise “significantly” because so many of the injured have severe burns.
As the nation entered its second day of mourning, thousands paid their respects at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest’s 4th district — the scene of Friday’s tragedy that so far has killed 29 people and left dozens badly burned.
In a separate show of grief, thousands walked silently through the capital city of three million Sunday afternoon, carrying flowers and photographs of the dead.
Over 140 people are still hospitalized around the Romanian capital and 90 of them are in serious condition, said Raed Arafat, an emergency situations official. He added that the death toll could double.
“Many sustained burns to their trachea and lungs, aggravated by the kind of noxious gases you find in foam and furniture which give off toxic substances such as cyanide. Also many people were trampled on,” he said.
As doctors announced that two more people had died Sunday, mourners gathered outside the shuttered club, some weeping, others standing silently, apparently dazed by the tragedy, the biggest of its kind in Romania.
People laid down white and yellow chrysanthemums and placed red and white candles to create a sea of tiny flickering flames, in an echo of the inferno that erupted at the basement nightclub in the shabby four-storey building during a rock concert featuring the band Goodbye to Gravity.
Witnesses said the fire started as a pyrotechnics show ignited foam, which lead to a stampede to a single exit from the club.
“The owners of the nightclub and authorities should be punished for allowing this to happen,” said Anne-Marie Duminica, 36. “I hope they rot in prison.”
There has been widespread anger that the club had only one exit door, the rock band used fireworks and the ceiling and pillars were clad in flammable foam. Criticism has also been raised against Romania’s lax fire regulations.