A fire broke out at a heavy metal concert by Goodbye to Gravity in Romania's capital of Bucharest on Friday killing at least 27 people and injuring 180 others, most of which are reported to be teenagers and students.
Local metal band, Goodbye to Gravity, was celebrating the release of its new album, Mantras of War. They are now victims of the incident with guitarists Vlad Telea and Mihai Alexandru reportedly among the dead and vocalist Andrei Galut, bassist Alex Pascu and drummer Bogdan Lavinius still in hospitals.
The Telegraph reports that the fire was caused by a firework display gone wrong as decorations made with polystyrene caught fire at the bass of a pillar which quickly engulfed the room, which was filled at most to capacity with 400 people.
Al Jazeera America shared the thoughts of Delia Tugui, a Spanish teacher at the American International School of Bucharest, who was at the free concert and wrote about the tragedy on her Facebook page.
"In 30 seconds ... the fire spread all over the ceiling," she wrote. "People rushed to the entrance but it was too narrow, and people panicked. Behind me people stampeded, climbing over each other, to try and get out."
The hospitals have been swamped by the tragedy as dozens of ambulances weren't enough to deal with all the injured, as many of them drove themselves or took taxis to the hospitals.
Digi 24, a Romanian news channel, reported that the Floreasca Hospital was overwhelmed as beds filled and many of the victims were left lying in stretchers in the corridors.
Paramedics on the scene said many of the victims were foreigners who did not speak Romanian. According to a report from Al Jazeera, a Romanian Intelligence Agency said at least an Italian woman, two Spanish citizens and a German man were among the injured.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis went to the hospitals with grieve with families and the government declared a three-day period of mourning.
