Update – November 08th 8:22pm:
More victims of the blaze have now passed, including Goodbye To Gravity drummer Bogdan Lavinius, who died today (November 08th) while being transported to a medical facility in Switzerland. The death toll has also now risen to 45.
Original Story:
Sad news as the death toll from the tragic fire at Goodbye To Gravity‘s recent CD release show at the Collectiv in Bucharest, Romania has now risen to 41 people. If there’s any positivity to be found from the story, it appears that sweeping safety reforms for venues may be in order in the wake of the fire. Protests over the lax safety standards and alleged corruption that allowed them have already seen the the resignation of Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta. Now, The Guardian report that the the mayor of the district, Cristian Popescu Piedone, has resigned in wake of the tragedy and been arrested on suspicion of corruption.
Those charges stem from for him, or his office, having been involved in giving the venue a permit to operate, despite failure to meet various safety requirements. 107 remain injured in the hospital due to the fire, with 48 listed as being in critical or serious condition. The injuries and deaths themselves happened as a result of a pyrotechnic display setting the venue ablaze during an October 30th performance.
The club’s three owners have been arrested on charges of manslaughter for failing to uphold safety standards for the club. The company that installed the pyrotechnic display is also said to be under investigation as well.
