The case of Colectiv club fire goes on trial | Owners, charged with manslaughter, injury by negligence

Investigators have finished the file regarding the fire in the Bucharest-based nightclub Colectiv. The judges will have their say now. The three owners of the club are accused of manslaughter and injury by negligence, following the death of 64 people.

Some of the employees of the club were also killed, so prosecutors say that owners failed to ensure the security and health provisions included in the labor legislation.

The owner of the firm that provided the fireworks that were used in the club on October 30 will also go on trial. She is facing multiple charges, such as manslaughter and spoliation of evidence.

Prosecutors say the club was engulfed in flames in tens of seconds due to the fireworks show. The fire extinguishers inside the club were out of order and there was only one exit. Some 350 persons were inside the building at that moment.

Some people collapsed due to the toxic gas fumes inside Colectiv, which was located in the basement of a former factory in central Bucharest.

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In the same night, 27 people were killed. In the coming weeks, this figure more than doubled.

Tens of the patients were transferred in hospitals in Western Europe and Israel.

According to press reports, some of the wounded that were treated in Romania were killed by infections they got in hospitals.

In this trial, 139 persons, 11 hospitals and 5 institutions are civil parties.

The government issued a report stating that rescue operation at the club was below average.

Although, the club did not have all permits to operate since it was opened, authorities did not close it down.

The tragedy trigged a massive wave of protests across Romania last November, which lead to the resignation of PM Victor Ponta. His Cabinet was replaced by a technocratic one, led by former commissioner Dacian Ciolos.

Ovidiu Posirca