Romania is getting near the most painful commemoration in its history in the past 26 years. One year will be marked on Sunday, October 30 since the tragic fire in the Colectiv club, Bucharest, that claimed 64 lives and left another 150 injured. Wide commemoration services and events are scheduled on Sunday, religious services, monument unveiling and charitable concerts in the memory of the victims, aiming to raise more funds to help the youngsters injured in the fire recover.
The head of the Colectiv Association, Eugen Iancu, who lost his 22-year-old son in the fire, on Friday appealed to the club owners to keep a moment of silence in the memory of the 64 youngsters who passed away on Sunday, at 22:32 when the fire was shooting up one year ago, and “to raise a beam of light into the sky”.
Also on Friday a religion class dedicated to the fire’s victims took place at a middle school in Bucharest, with one of the injured attending, Liviu Popescu, former pupil of the educational unit.
PM Dacian Ciolos is expected to meet Friday with a part of the fire’s survivors, with Health and Interior ministers Vlad Voiculescu and Dragos Tudorache and the president of the Colectiv Association, Eugen Iancu, attending the discussion.
The Government extended by two more years the discounts for the treatment abroad for the Colectiv patients. The Health Ministry denounced “red tape barriers” that prevented more allotted funds from being actually used in 2016 . The sum will be included in the state budget every year.
“Expenses discounting from the health social insurance national fund are excepted from payment, as well as expenses coming from donations or sponsorship. At the same time, procedures are simplified to receive this aid both for patients and authorities. There is also the new possibility of payment in advance for the treatment, considering that some medical treatments or surgeries need payment in advance,” says the Health Ministry.
According to the ministry, at present 27 patients injured in the Colectiv fire are still under treatment in hospitals in Romania or abroad.
Investigations, indictments
In terms of legal actions, two employees of the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, Antonina Radu and George Matei, who should have checked if the Colectiv nightclub respected the fire security standards, were indicted on Friday, with the National Anti-corruption Directorate informing that there are 248 claimants in this file asking for compensations worth EUR 212,474, 000 and RON 51, 240,315.
Antonina Radu and George Matei are accused they close their eyes to that fact that the nightclub had no fire security authorization.
“Although they went to the Colectiv Club several times, the defendants Radu Antonina and Matei George haven’t conducted any check and haven’t taken any action to register the club at ISU for functioning without fire security permit.
Anti-corruption prosecutors, the two firefighter inspectors caused a prejudice of over RON 12,000 to the Bucharest Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, representing the costs of the intervention on October 30, 2015 that involved equipment and staff expenses. At the same time, investigators accuse the two ISU employees of helping Colectiv Club obtain an undue benefit of RON 62,298, representing the company’s profit since the beginning of their activity up to the tragedy.
Romania’s General Prosecutor’s Office announced on Friday that investigation is ongoing in the disjointed Colectiv case for all complaints filed by the victims or other people. Among the prosecuted persons is also one of the pyrotechnists who managed the firework devices in the club on October 30, 2015.
40 witnesses and victims have been heard so far in this disjointed investigation, while hundreds of medical records from hospitals in Romania or abroad being seized. Prosecutors ordered 82 forensic expertizes, with the forensic doctors from the “Mina Minovici” National Forensic Institute asking for the re-examination of more injured persons every six months and every one year to establish the invalidity or the aesthetic prejudice, considering that some of the injured persons are still under treatment.
Street protests, Gov’t Ponta down
Large street protests followed the fire, asking for resignations and harsh punishments for the decision making authorities that closed their eyes to the irregularities in the nightclub that made the fire escalating so quickly, with no chance for some people inside to get out and save their lives. “Corruption kills” was the hardcore message of the protesters.
The tragedy led to toppling the government in office in October last year, a Social Democrat cabinet led by Victor Ponta. President Klaus Iohannis asked Dacian Ciolos, former European Commissioner, to take over the PM position and form a technocrat government that should stay in office for one year until the general elections of December 2016.
Fundraising campaigns
Over EUR 1.9 M have been granted to the Colectic victims so far within the campaign “We care. We offer hope, together!” conducted by the Romanian Red Cross and Pro TV private TV channel.
So far the fundraising campaign managed to attract donations worth over EUR 1.9 M. 1,501,568 euros were used to help the survivors- hospitalization, medicines, treatments, equipment, consumables. There is EUR 411,783 still available that will be used further on for the victims admitted in the Romanian hospitals or abroad, including the recovery treatment and accommodation/meal expenses.
The Romania Red Cross reported that EUR 535,677 were used as support fund for the hospitalized victims, including for those admitted in hospitals abroad. EUR 156,031 went to discounting drugs and another EUR 295, 993 for payments to the providers of medical equipment and consumables like compressive gloves or trousers. EUR 416,357 went to medical devices, drugs given to the hospitals in Romania where the Colectiv injured had been admitted, as well as UNIFARM medical kits.
EUR 98,816 was give as support for the families who lost somebody in the fire.
The campaign also raised money to buy a bionic prosthesis for a patient’s hand, worth EUR 92,000.