Romania’s Emergency Situations Inspectorate – ISU will have the legal right to close down all the clubs, bars, pubs, and public places that don’t respect the safety rules, the Government decided on Tuesday. The cabinet took this decision after 32 people died and some 180 were wounded when a club in Bucharest caught fire on Friday night, October 30.

The tragedy in club Colectiv was determined by many public safety breaches. The club’s soundproofing insulation went on fire due to the fireworks lit during a concert and the 500 people who were in the club at that time struggled to get out through only one available exit.

The Emergency Situations Inspectorate and not local authorities or anyone else will have the power to check all clubs and places where lots of people gather to see if they comply with fire prevention rules, according to Prime Minister Victor Ponta. He added that the clubs that didn’t comply with the rules would be closed until they fix the problems.

Representatives of ISU Bucuresti-Ilfov have asked people to notify the inspectorate of any clubs and other places that didn’t respect the fire safety rules.

Former President Traian Basescu reacted to the Government’s decision writing on Facebook that „the youth needed clubs” and the authorities’ first reaction to close them was wrong. He added that the solution to this problem was the state to help club owners in taking loans to modernise their places with state-guaranteed loans similar to the First House program.

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Update- Unprecedented tragedy: Nightclub fire kills 32, injures 180 during Bucharest concert

editor@romania-insider.com