27 dead after pyrotechnic show at Halloween party sparks huge blaze at club-

Twenty-seven people were killed at a Romanian nightclub after a huge fire was sparked by a heavy metal band’s pyrotechnical show.

Emergency response: medics treat a victim of the disaster EPA/Robert Ghement

An explosion at Bucharest’s Colectiv club on Friday night caused a stampede as the disaster killed many of the crowd there, which was composed mainly of teenagers and young people.

Evening Standard reports that more than 150 people were also receiving treatment in hospital after the tragedy, officials said.
Up to 400 people were at the club in a former factory for the show by metal band Goodbye to Gravity, witnesses said.

Crowds tried to crush through one exit door to safety after the fire broke out when a spark on stage reportedly ignited polystyrene décor.

Emergency response: medics treat a victim of the disaster EPA/Robert Ghement

Clubbers – many of whom were not carrying identification - initially thought the flames were part of the show and did not immediately react.
Victor Ionescu, who was at the club with his girlfriend, told Antena 3 TV that "people were fainting, they were fainting from the smoke. It was total chaos, people were trampling on each other."

Upon hearing the news, people descended on the club looking for loved ones.

One distraught mother told the Associated Press news agency: "She's not answering the telephone and she's not saying anything.”
A young man filmed by Antena 3 said that flames engulfed clubgoers, burning their skin and hair.
President Klaus Iohannis wrote on his Facebook page that he was "shaken and deeply hurt by the tragic event. ... It is a very sad moment for us all, for our nation and for me personally." He said he was considering declaring a day of national mourning.

Raed Arafat, a government emergency situation official, described the blaze as “a tragedy without precedent”.