The Colectiv tragedy, again in the limelight
Another person who suffered injuries in the Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest five months ago died, raising the death toll to 64.
România Internațional, 15.03.2016, 13:13
The death toll of the Colectiv nightclub fire has risen to 64, after a new patient with burn injuries died in Bucharest. Aged 21, the young man was a student at the Economic Science Academy in Bucharest, and was the last of all the patients who received specialized care in Romanian hospitals. Doctors say he died of a hemorrhagic complication after undergoing a string of surgeries during his four months of treatment.
Another 10 patients are in specialized care in hospitals abroad. Among those who lost their lives in the fire were artists, photographers, journalists, Olympic medallists and foreign students. On October 30 2015, a fire broke out in the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest where the rock band Goodbye to Gravity was giving a concert marking the release of a new album. According to eyewitness accounts, the fire was caused by fireworks, and the blaze quickly spread to the ceiling.
People panicked and tried to leave the club, causing a stampede near the exit door. Those who were closer to the exit door were able to get out of the smoke-engulfed room. Those who were farther from the door stood little chances, dying either in the fire or from smoke poisoning. The tragedy hit the headlines in international media, prompting the famous Discovery channel to produce a documentary called The Colectiv Disaster, which aired on Sunday.
The documentary presents a chronological progression of the tragic events that night, based on the accounts of the people who were directly involved — survivors, family of the victims, authorities and medical staff involved in rescue operations. One of the firemen on scene recounts how he collected working cell-phones, all displaying either “mum” or “dad” as caller IDs. “I felt the blaze scorching my hands. My back had become an instrument of torture, and the plastic of my glasses melted in my palms, splashing a stinging, thick liquid all over my chest and neck.
The excruciating pain had turned us all into malfunctioning marionettes, crawling through the dust and black smoke with fresh, open wounds”, one of the survivors wrote on her social network profile. Meanwhile, the authorities continue to investigate the circumstances of the tragedy and are looking for the ones responsible. Romania’s interim Prosecutor General says the investigation is in its final stage. The National Institute for Forensics has recently completed its analysis and submitted it to prosecutors and to the experts of the parties, according to the legislation in force.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
