The management of the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (ISU) Bucharest has been suspended, the measure being taken following the opening of an internal investigation, digi24.ro reports. The internal investigation is related to the tragedy at Colectiv nightclub on October 30, namely the receipt of a fax requesting the presence of firemen in the club, during an event.
The internal investigation at ISU Bucharest was ordered last night.
PM Dacian Cioloș on Wednesday explained that he wanted to be sure that people who ran Bucharest-Ilfov ISU and have been suspended would be removed and would not be able to come back in the system. Cioloș also said that he expects a reform and restructuring plan for ISU from the secretary of state Raed Arafat ‘in the upcoming period’, considering that both he and Arafat had just found out that Bucharest Inspectorate for Emergency Situations had been informed about some problems at Colectiv club and had not checked them up.
The measure was taken considering that on September 23, 2015 The General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU) received a fax which demanded the presence of a crew of fire-fighters at Colectiv nightclub for an event that was to take place there.
The IGSU sent the fax to ISU Bucharest, the inspectorate that should have ensured the presence of fire crews at Colectiv nightclub, but this did not happen.
At the same time, also on Wednesday, Interior minister Petre Tobă told the prime minister that the secretary of state Raed Arafat had been informed on Tuesday that a company organizing events in the Colectiv nightclub had announced the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations and the Bucharest leadership ISU since September that the club would host an event to be attended by many people.
On the night of the tragedy at Colectiv nightclub, secretary of state with the Interior Ministry Raed Arafat and the fire-fighters claimed they did not know of the existence of Colectiv nightclub.
“A review of how the requests to ISU Bucharest were addressed is to be carried out and then to the IGSU, in order to verify what happened when the application for organizing an event with 2,000 people was received, if someone was to be sent to the site for checks. I do not think it’s too hard to make a phone call to verify. All ISU Bucharest management is now made available, and the inspector general will designate on Wednesday a new interim leadership. New documents show that at least some ISU employees have seen the documents mentioning Colectiv nightclub. The request was coming from a company, the application does not write Colectiv, but in the written address and are mentioned Colectiv and Pionierul. In the light of new acts, we can’t clearly say ISU Bucharest did not know of the existence of the club. It is obvious that at ISU Bucharest some people knew about the club and that someone organizes events there with large crowds,” said Secretary of State Raed Arafat for Digi24.