Safety Procedures and their Effects
Issues relating to safety in public spaces are structural in nature and cannot be reduced to just one single incident, like the fire that broke out at the ‘Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest.
Roxana Vasile, 26.11.2015, 12:46
Are there any safety procedures applicable to public spaces in Romania? Yes, there are. The problem is that, as it happened in October at the Colectiv club in downtown Bucharest, they are almost never observed. Commentators invited to take part in TV shows have all been very active in passing judgments and putting the blame on one party or another, who, in their opinion, would be responsible for the tragedy at Colectiv, where hundreds of people, actually five times more than the club was allowed to accommodate, were caught by fire and many of them died.
One of the commentators even pointed the finger at the very people who attended the concert, who, he argues, should have asked if the club had the necessary safety procedures in place, before going there. The three owners of the club are now being held in temporary police custody and prosecuted for manslaughter. Also, the pyro-technician and the managers who allowed the use of fireworks, which originally started, are now facing aggravated charges.
What about the authorities? An internal investigation has revealed the fact that the Bucharest – Ilfov Inspectorate for Emergency Situations actually knew about the activities carried out at Colectiv, but all they did was to just add another paper to the file, without actually checking the situation on site. Therefore, the heads of the Inspectorate have been suspended and are now being held accountable by the National Anticorruption Directorate. Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos has called for their sacking.
“Im almost sure this is not a singular case, and valid for Bucharest alone, so I would like State Secretary Arafat to conduct a thorough investigation and to draw up an action plan for the restructuring of the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations.
The State Secretary with the Interior Ministry, Raed Arafat, one of the most trusted officials in Romania, should also provide explanations regarding some of his statements after the accident, which have proven not so accurate. However, the issue as such is structural in nature, it does not just relate to the Colectiv club alone. Important buildings have been closed all across the country, for failing to observe the necessary safety regulations.
Also, given that Bucharest is the European capital running the highest risk of being affected by earthquakes, cinema and theatre halls, some of them with a national reputation, as well as restaurants and bars have been forced to suspend their activity, as last week, Romanias president Klaus Iohannis promulgated the law banning any kind of public activity in spaces at risk. The structural frame of hundreds of buildings was affected in particular by the big earthquake of 1977, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, which killed some 1,600 people. Only a few of these have been consolidated.
The situation is high on the agenda of Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and Culture Minister Vlad Alexandrescu, who will hold a meeting to find solutions, with the participation of the Bucharest municipality.
(Translation by M. Ignatescu)
