It’s been a week since Romania was shaken by the tragic incident at Colectiv Club in Bucharest. 32 people died in the fire, and 130 are still in hospitals. Meanwhile, the authorities are trying to find the guilty parties. Besides investigating the scene of the crime, prosecutors gather documents and question those who have some kind of connection with the case. The anticorruption prosecutors have taken over the case.

According to sources cited by local Mediafax, prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Department (DNA) have taken documents from Bucharest’s District 4 City Hall and will question several civil servants about how Colectiv Club got its license. Former District 4 mayor Cristian Popescu, Piedone, who resigned earlier this week, is among those to be questioned by the prosecutors.

The District 4 City Hall is included in the investigation because the club was located in this sector of the capital.

DNA deputy chief prosecutor Marius Iacob said that there were indications that criminal offenses such abuse of office, complicity to abuse of office, and forgery are connected to the way the club got the license to operate.

Right after the fire at the nightclub in Bucharest, Cristian Popescu Piedone said that, from the City Hall’s point of view, the club was functioning legal, as it had the needed license for that.

Paul Gancea, Alin Anastasescu, and Costin Mincu, the three owners of Colectiv Club, were placed under preventive arrest earlier this week. Investigators have shown that the owners, although they had made a written statement that they would respect the club’s maximum limit of 80 seats, broke this obligation on the evening of October 30 when some 400 people were in the club.

Moreover, according to the lease agreement concluded between SC Colectiv Club SRL and SC Digidream SRL (the rock band that was playing in the club in the night of the tragedy), the band wasn’t supposed to pay the rent if at least 400 people attended the concert, reports Mediafax.

Meanwhile, the investigation also continues at the deadly club. According to local Digi24, investigators gathered more than 700 bags of personal items that belonged to those who have been in Colectiv Club in the night of the tragedy. They’ve found clothes, bags, money, jewelry, phones, and cameras in the club, which are now to be given back to the victims or their families.

Thousands of people rallied the streets of Bucharest this week asking the Government and the mayor to take responsibility for the tragic event at Colectiv Club. Following these protests, Prime Minister Victor Ponta resigned and the President named Education Minister Sorin Cimpean as interim Prime Minister.

Following consultations with political parties and civil society representatives, the President will nominate a new Prime Minister.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com