Romania mourns victims after club blaze kills 27

Romania was plunged into mourning yesterday after 27 people were killed and nearly 200 injured when a fire ripped through an underground nightclub in Bucharest.

Survivors spoke of the horror that unfolded when fireworks -- set off during a pre-Halloween gig by a heavy metal band -- unleashed a blaze, followed by a stampede as terrified clubbers sought the exit.

As the government declared three days of national mourning Prime Minister Victor Ponta said foreigners were among the injured, including two Spanish people, an Italian and a German, authorities said.

President Klaus Iohannis said there were indications that safety regulations had been ignored at the club, and called for a swift investigation.

The blaze broke out at around 11:00pm (2100 GMT) Friday at the Colectiv nightclub, where according to witnesses between 200 and 400 youngsters had gathered for a performance by rock group Goodbye to Gravity.

Twenty-six people died in the club and one died in hospital, the secretary of state for the interior, Raed Arafat, said after a meeting of a national emergency committee.

Of the nearly 200 injured, 146 people were hospitalised for burns, smoke inhalation and other injuries, he said. Hospital sources said 10 were in a critical condition.

Witnesses described nightmarish scenes when fireworks, let off as part of a show to promote the band's new album, set fire to a pillar and part of the ceiling.

The crowd panicked as thick smoke engulfed the room, prompting people to scramble to escape from the club, located in a communist-era basement.

"People were fainting, they were fainting because of the smoke. It was total chaos, people were trampled," witness Victor Ionescu told local television station Antena 3.

Another witness, Alin Panduru, said the fire spread "in 30 seconds".