Alin Anastasescu, one of the owners of the Colectiv nightclub that burnt out at the end of October 2015 causing the death of 64 people and the injury of some other hundreds, has stated at the Bucharest Tribunal on Monday, that the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations had conducted checks on the club, had seen the conditions of the venue, the suspended ceiling, the sponge on the walls and the access door, but had said that everything was OK.
„The charges in the indictment, the ones for deeds of manslaughter and bodily harm are wrong (…) As for the charge that I have allowed and encouraged the fireworks during the concert, I have to say that I have found out very late, precisely on that day, that the organizer of the concert wants to use fireworks. I have openly opposed this intention, urging the staff of the club to make sure that no open fire will be used inside the venue. I learnt from an employee, Viorel Stanciu, that the organizer is equipping the venue with fireworks without our consent,” said Alin Anastasescu.
He also talked about the sponge used for the soundproofing of the club’s walls, contradicting the statement in the indictment that the cheapest solution has been used, explaining this was the solution proposed by the constructor. Anastasescu claims that the company that revamped the Colectiv club has cheated them, replacing the products that the club owners had ordered.
He added that the firefighters who had checked the venue had noticed the sponge and the ceiling, and that the organizer of the event that night had been responsible that everything should work well, with no incidents.
„The venue had other exit doors that could be opened upon the organizer’s request and I refer here at the original metallic doors of the container that had been opened at the previous events. I was not present at the event that night,” Anastasescu pointed out.
In retort, the father of Teodora Maftei, a young girl who lost her life due to the injuries got in the fire, said he doesn’t believe anything Anastasescu had said, slamming the judiciary for slowing down the trial. „These children didn’t die in the Colectiv fire, they were deliberately murdered, there was a targeted attack there. And I also know who is behind, I will say some other time. They can handcuff me, I don’t care. My life doesn’t matter anymore, it used to when my daughter was alive. She was a prodigy child,” said Teodora’s father.
The General Prosecutor’s Office has sent the Colectiv case in court in April 2016. The club’s owners, George Alin Anastasescu, Paul Cătălin Gancea şi Costin Mincu, are charged with manslaughter and bodily injury, while investigations were also extended against the company that delivered the fireworks that night, Golden Ideas Fireworks. Later on, another case was added, the one against two employees of the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, for abuse of office. Former district 4 mayor at that time, Cristian Popescu Piedone is also tried in the same file.