Three Years After Nightclub Fire, Romania Has 11 Special Beds For Severe Burn Victims

Romania’s Health Minister Sorana Pintea told MEDIAFAX on Monday that Romania currently has only 11 specialized beds for victims of severe burn injuries, three years after a nightclub fire in Bucharest resulted in 65 deaths – some of which were the result of improper treatment conditions.

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The minister said that Romania still does not have the capacity treat the large number of victims such as that from that fire “as no country can in Europe”, and that the ministry would request foreign aid in case of a similar tragedy.

Pintea added that four specialized medical centers for burn victims, due to be constructed through a World Bank financing program, are currently at the stage of signing contracts for feasibility and construction studies.

“Through a program of the World Bank, Romania must construct four centers for severe burn victims – in Timisoara, Targu Mures and two in Bucharest. On August 6, 2018 we signed the contract for feasibility and construction studies. They are currently at this stage,” the minister told MEDIAFAX.

Tuesday will mark the three-year commemoration of the nightclub fire, which caused the highest single-event death toll in the country since the fall of the Communist regime, with 65 dead and hundreds injured.

The fire broke out in the Colectiv nightclub situated in central Bucharest on the evening of October 30, 2015, due to a fireworks malfunction during an album launch event of local band Goodbye to Gravity.

The club, despite having authorization to function, did not respect basic fire safety regulations, having only one entrance open and using highly flammable textile materials to cover structural pillars.

Despite the large number of victims, then-Health Minister Nicolae Banicioiu announced days after the incident that Romanian hospitals can handle the situation and controversially waited days before activating an EU help mechanism to send some of the victims to specialized centers in other states.

Thirty-eight of the victims died after the fire due to severe injuries, with several survivors who were treated in foreign centers announced that they were found infected with dangerous bacteria they had contracted in Romanian hospitals.

The trial of the incident has also stagnated this year, after one of the case judges retired, resulting in no sentences handed out three years after the tragedy.

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