By Tony O'Riley-
A Romanian court in Bucharest on Monday has imprisoned 13 people found guilty of causing a deadly blaze that killed 65 people. There were sentenced to a total 115 years to 13 people accused of responsibility for the deadly fire at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, in which 65 people lost their lives when a blaze broke out during a concert on October 30, 2015.
The three owners of the Colectiv club, Alin George Anastasescu, Paul Gancea and Costin Mincu, each received prison sentences of 11 years and eight months, while judges also sentenced Cristian Popescu Piedone, then mayor of Bucharest’s Sector 4 municipality, under which administration of the club falls, to eight-and-a-half years in prison.
The two officials who approved the functioning legal permits for the club to function despite known security defects, were each given prison terms of nine years and two months. The owner of the company in charge of the fireworks show held inside the club that night received a sentence of 12 years and eight months in prison. Two pyrotechnics experts who worked on the show got nine years and eight months and ten years behind bars for their involvement in the tragedy. The Bucharest Tribunal in 2017 rejected the request to introduce the Romanian state as a civilly liable party in the trial of the tragic 2015 fire at the former Colectiv club in Bucharest, which killed a total of 64 people.
This means that state institutions will not participate in the payment of compensation to victims if the court decides that such damages are imposed. The Bucharest court also ruled that authorities found guilty of negligence to pay out 50 million euros to the survivors of the blaze and the families of those who died. At the time the prime minister of the Social Democratic Party, Victor Ponta, resigned from his post on November 5, 2015 following massive street demonstrations against corruption prompted by the tragedy.
The blaze shocked Romania and sparked uproar over the corrupt practices that made it possible for the club to operate despite its non-existent security standards. Two pyrotechnicians who had installed the fireworks and two firefighters who ignored breaches of safety standards were sentenced to prison terms ranging from nine years and two months to ten years.
The mayor of a Bucharest district who authorised the club to operate despite, overlooking its defect, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. The Bucharest court also ruled that authorities found guilty of negligence to pay out 50 million euros to the survivors of the blaze and the families of those who died.