Romania’s minister of health on 7 years of Collective nightclub fire: “It will never be enough”

Alexandru Rafila, Romania's minister of health, calls for the improvement of health service at the national level, in the wake of 7 years of the Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest.

Speaking on news channel Digi24, the Social Democrat (PSD) politician said that the 300 beds dedicated for patients of mild and medium forms of burn, 34 others for major burn, and bed procurement projects by the World Bank that’s set to be completed in 2024 on the national level are “not enough” to revamp the country's treatment system.

“It's never enough! This should be very clear. There's no point in lying. It will never be enough, because if there is an incident of large proportions, with dozens of victims, it is certainly not enough, especially since these beds are mostly occupied by patients who arrive there routinely, without having a major incident,” he said.

The tragic incident, which took place on October 30, 2015, turned metalcore band Goodbye to Gravity’s celebration of their new album into screams of death where 64 people were killed by the fire and bacterial infections at the hospitals, and over 150 others were severely injured.

Since then, protests and remembrances have sparked nationwide, even seven years after the tragedy.

Former Bucharest’s Sector 4 mayor, Cristian Popescu Piedone, and club owners Alin Anastasescu, Paul Gancea, and Costin Mincu have received prison sentences between 4 to 11 years and 8 months.

“We have to do 3 things: provide a reasonable number of beds that can be served by qualified staff, the second element is related to the possibilities of transfer abroad – and we have just completed a memorandum with Belgium, and we have to conduct serious education and information campaigns leading to the avoidance of tragic accidents, look at what happened in South Korea [where Halloween stampede left over 150 people dead in Itaewon district of Seoul],” Rafila also said.

In Cluj-Napoca, Cluj Anticorruption Umbrella gathered people at the bell tower in Piața Unirii for a “moment of reflection,” taking to the streets to demand justice for those who’d lost their lives.

(Photo: Romanian Ministry of Health/Facebook)