Romania’s President
\nKlaus Iohannis announced he would ratify the law on providing lifelong medical
\ntreatment to the survivors of the Colectiv nightclub fire of October 30 2015, on
\nthe very day the tragedy occurred 5 years ago. The Chamber of Deputies, as the
\ndecision-making body in the matter, passed a draft law according to which the
\nexpenses linked to any kind of treatment, underwent at home or abroad, in the
\ncase of people whose health was affected by the Colectiv nightclub fire, will
\nbe covered by the Ministry of Health for the entire duration of their lives. Five
\nyears after the fire that claimed the lives of dozens of young people and
\nruined the lives of scores of others and victims’ families, the survivors still
\ndemand justice be served. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Colectiv court case has reached the sentencing
\nphase. The last appearance at the Court of Appeal was postponed, as some of the
\ndefendants had not hired legal representatives. In the aforementioned case the
\nformer mayor of District 4 and other city hall public servants, but also the
\nclub owners, two firefighters, members of the pyrotechnics crew and
\nrepresentatives of the fireworks show were all handed prison sentences. The defendants
\nand the institutions they represent must now pay some \u20ac10 million in damages to
\nthe victims. The Colectiv Association, set up by the victims’ families and
\nsurvivors, claims that, in the five years that have since passed, the
\nauthorities have made no changes to avoid similar tragedies from happening in
\nthe future. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The tragedy is also the subject of a film, which has been nominated
\nto represent Romania in the 2021 Academy Awards in the best international
\nfeature section. The film follows the events unfolding 1 year after the fire,
\nand tells the story of people fighting the system, truth versus manipulation,
\nthe clash between private and public interests, but also courage and
\naccountability. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On the night of October 30, 2015, a rock band climbed on an improvised
\nstage at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, venued in an old factory. Shortly
\nafter the concert started, the fireworks accompanying the show ignited the
\nclub’s acoustic foam. The fire lasted 153 seconds, enough to kill many people
\ninside the overcrowded club on the spot, but also for others to get killed in
\nthe ensuing stampede towards the club’s only exit, inhaling a toxic mix of
\nfumes. The then Prime Minister shortly resigned, and so did the Mayor of
\nBucharest’s District 4, where the club was located. Meanwhile the wounded were
\ntransported for medical care abroad or remained in the country for treatment.
\nMany died to sustained burns or hospital-acquired infections. Street protests
\nshortly followed under the slogan corruption kills!. A criminal investigation
\nwas launched, people were arrested, the court case dragged on, the sentences were
\nfinally passed, and <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Five years since the Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest, the authorities say survivors will benefit from lifelong medical treatment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":87026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29466,40095,40094,2015,40096],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-87025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-colectiv-nightclub-fire","tag-lifelong-treatment","tag-october-30","tag-vaccin-imunizare-reactii-adverse","tag-victims-and-survivors"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n