REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BUCHAREST -- Another victim of the nightclub fire downtown here late Friday died on Monday at the Hospital for Burns, bringing the death toll to 31 people, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Gabriel Oprea announced Monday.
Monday's victim was an unidentified man who had been in serious condition, with carbonization of the hands and forearms, stated Cristian Nitescu, the hospital's medical director.
The government task force has predicted that the number of dead could rise significantly in the coming period, and even double.
The nightclub fire late Friday was the most serious accident in a public place Romania had seen in decades. As many as 26 people died in the fire at the club and one died shortly after being taken to hospital. On Sunday, three young women died in two hospitals in Bucharest.
It is still possible that 20 more wounded patients may die, State Secretary of the Interior Ministry Raed Arafat said on Sunday at a meeting of a government task force headed by the prime minister.
"There are 90 in serious and critical condition. There are some very serious," explained Arafat at the meeting.
At least 180 people were injured in the fire and the ensuing stampede, and over 140 were still in hospital.
The fire was started by a spark when pyrotechnic effects went off during a concert at Colectiv nightclub, igniting sponges on a pillar, witnesses said.
General Prosecutor Tiberiu Nitu announced three associates at the club had been bought in under court warrants on Monday to be heard by the General Prosecution Service as suspects of manslaughter and culpable bodily harm.
On Saturday, the government announced a three-day national mourning in remembrance of the fire victims, stipulating that Romanian flags would be half-staffed.
Hundreds of people on Monday gathered in Bucharest before the Colectiv club to lay flowers and light candles in memory of those who died. Meanwhile, on Sunday, about 10,000 people participated in a march paying tribute to the victims.
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