Few days after a fire broke out at a nightclub in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, killing 31 people, prosecutors say three owners of the nightclub have been arrested for suspected manslaughter.
The trio, named as Costin Mincu, Alin George Anastasescu and Paul Gancea, were accused of allowing the club to be overcrowded and of not taking sufficient steps to ensure it had enough emergency exits.
The men aged between 28 and 36, were questioned for several hours about the Bucharest blaze, which started when fireworks were set off by a band performing at the venue.
Witnesses and Romanian media had queried safety standards at the club. They were concerned about the lack of an emergency exit and the use of flammable material to soundproof the building.
Interior Ministry Secretary of State, Raed Arafat, had said that the club was suspected of not being authorised to hold concerts or to stage pyrotechnic displays.
“Prosecutors are also inquiring into who should have insured the premises”, he said.
In a separate development, the owners of three night clubs admitted they had recklessly failed to uphold safety standards, the AP news agency reported.
It said that all three have apologised for their actions, with one confessing that he had put thousands of lives in danger and another conceding he had been “ignorant and irresponsible”.
Friday’s fire broke out at about 23:00 at the Colectiv club, which was hosting a free rock concert by the band Goodbye to Gravity. 400 people were thought to have been inside.
Survivors, however, said that the fireworks caused the ceiling and a pillar to catch fire and produce heavy smoke.
