Colectiv club fire toll reaches 41

COLECTIV (UPDATE)

Another nine people who sustained injuries and burns in the Colectiv nightclub fire passed away on Saturday, raising the death toll to 41.

48 people are in critical condition.

So far several skin-grafting surgeries have been made, while in some cases doctors were forced to operate to clear the patients airways. Two planes of the Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication (SMURD) transported two patients in critical condition to Vienna, Austria, where they will receive specialised treatment.

Several other patients were transferred to hospitals in the Netherlands, Belgium and Israel.

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Another person who sustained injuries and burns in the Colectiv nightclub fire passed away on Saturday, raising the death toll to 39 dead.

Previously, on Saturday morning, 6 people died.

Of these, two died while being transported for treatment to hospitals abroad. According to the latest reports, some 107 people are still hospitalized, of whom 48 are in critical condition.

So far several skin-grafting surgeries have been made, while in some cases doctors were forced to operate to clear the patients’ airways.

Interim Prime Minister Sorin Cimpeanu has said the Government will next week refund all costs for patients who were treated in hospitals abroad.

In another move, the former mayor of Bucharest District 4, where the tragedy occurred, Cristian Popescu-Piedone has been detained, being charged with abuse of office and forgery.

He is being accused of having issued permits for the club’s functioning in spite of the fact that its owners did not get the approval of the Department for Emergency Situations beforehand.

The club’s three owners have been taken into pre-trial custody on suspicion of aggravated manslaughter and involuntary bodily harm.

The firm contracted to ensure the pyrotechnics show at Colectiv on the night of the tragedy is also being investigated, its owners having been arrested.

Also on Saturday, interim Prime Minister Sorin Cimpeanu said only 7% of schools in Romania have been greenlighted for functioning by the Department for Emergency Situations.