November 1, 2015
Romania declares three-day mourning for the victims of a fire at a Bucharest nightclub
Newsroom, 01.11.2015, 12:00
Fire. 30
people were killed and more than 140 injured following a fire on Friday night at the
Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest. Three of the injured died on Sunday. More than
30 people are in critical condition in the intensive care units of 13 hospitals,
with burns covering large parts of their bodies and smoke inhalation injuries.
The General Prosecutor’s Office has started hearing the witnesses to the tragic
accident. Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has asked for a solid, efficient
and quick investigation and the government has declared three days of national
mourning on the 31st of October and the 1st and 2nd
of November. On Sunday afternoon, around 12,000 people took part in a march of
silence in Bucharest in memory of the victims. The Romanian Radio Broadcasting
Corporation has also expressed its sympathy for and solidarity with the
families and friends of the people who died in the fire. We are profoundly
grieved and our thoughts will always be with those who suffered from the tragic
accident, writes a statement from the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation.
Plane crash. Investigations continue in Egypt to establish the cause of the crash of a Russian airliner in the Sinai dessert on Saturday. Russia has declared a day of national mourning today. All the 224 people on board were killed, both passengers and crew, most of whom were Russian nationals. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility, saying it brought down the plane in response to Russia’s intervention in Syria, but Moscow has rejected the claim. Aeronautics experts are also sceptical about this scenario. Air France, Lufthansa and Emirates say they have stopped flying over the Sinai area for security reasons.
Greece. The European Central Bank says Greece needs 14.4 billion euros in fresh capital to continue their normal activity, following an analysis of the financial situation of Greece’s four big private banks as part of a new bailout programme. Despite a series of measures requested by the country’s creditors, including salary cuts and tax hikes, Greece is still unable to fulfil its obligations on its own. The private banks Eurobank, Piraeus, NBG and Alpha Bank have until November the 6th to say how they intend to make up their capital shortfall.
Renewed ties. The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea say they have completely restored trade and security ties, at their first meeting in three years. According to the BBC, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said they agreed to resume trilateral meetings which have not been held since 2012. They also agreed to enhance economic cooperation between the three states. The talks in Seoul were an attempt to ease tensions fuelled by territorial disputes and historical disagreements.
Radio Romania. 87 years ago, at 5 pm on the 1st of November 1928, what was known at the time as the Radiotelephonic Broadcasting Company went on air for the first time. The very first words belonged to the then president of the company, the physicist Dragomir Hurmuzescu. Today, Radio Romania is the largest media outlet in this country in terms of daily number of listeners to its different stations, as well as the many campaigns it has been involved in and the large-scale cultural projects it has developed.
