Gas leak blamed for death of five teenage girls in escape room

INVESTIGATORS in Poland have blamed a gas leak in a heating system at an Escape Room for a fire that killed five teenage girls and also injured a man.

The bodies of the 15-year-old victims were found on Friday in Koszalin, in northern Poland, after firefighters extinguished a blaze in an adjacent room.

Prosecutors said that carbon monoxide inhalation was the likely cause of the deaths.

A 26-year-old man employed at the location was taken to hospital with burns.

Koszalin prosecutor Ryszard Gasiorowski said a leak in the bottled gas heating system at the location was a probable cause of the fire.

Earlier, firefighters blamed faulty electric wiring and substandard security procedures.

Gasiorowski said the fire probably broke out in the reception room and blocked the employee’s way to evacuate the girls.

Post-mortem examinations will be carried out to confirm the cause of the deaths.

He said firefighters who put out the blaze and other witnesses were being questioned.

The condition of the injured employee did not immediately allow for his questioning. Earlier, national fire chief Leszek Suski said that electrical wiring at the location was makeshift and too close to flammable materials.

“Security was not ensured and that led to the tragedy,” Suski said.

He said there was no proper evacuation route and a “lot of negligence” at the location.

A spokesman for local firefighters, Tomasz Kubiak, said the units responding to the blaze had to use specialised equipment and force their way into the Escape Room.

Poland’s interior minister has ordered fire safety inspections at more than 1,000 Escape Room locations across the country.

The first inspections were being held on Saturday, the Interior Ministry said.

Previously, there was no official requirement for fire safety certificates at such locations.

Highly popular among teenagers in Poland, the Escape Room game has players locked inside a room or building and they must find clues that help them get out.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has sent condolences to the victims’ relatives.