Many of 27 dead in club fire in Bucharest still unidentified

Media reported that clubgoers initially thought the flames were part of the show and 

immediately react.

Officials said most of the 27 people who died when a heavy metal band's pyrotechnical show sparked a deadly fire at a Bucharest nightclub have not been identified.

Raed Arafat, an emergency situations official, said on Saturday that 17 of the dead have not been identified. TV stations posted a number for people to call to find out about the tragedy, the deadliest in the country's history.

The deflagration killed 27 people and injured scores of the club's mostly youthful patrons. Some 146 remain hospitalized across the capital.

Arafat says the death toll could climb from the fire that ripped though a club, located in a basement in a building in downtown Bucharest, a city of three million people.

The government will meet later and propose three days of mourning.

Witnesses told Antena 3 TV that there were between 300 to 400 mostly young people at the club, housed in a former factory, and only one exit door when the metal band Goodbye to Gravity was performing and a pyrotechnical show went awry. The station reported that people panicked and rushed for the exit.

Digi 24 television station cited witnesses who said a spark on stage ignited some polystyrene decor.

Media reported that clubgoers initially thought the flames were part of the show and did not immediately react. Fire regulations can be lax in Bucharest clubs and restaurants.

An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw people wandering around outside the club clad in emergency blankets in an apparent state of confusion.

Upon hearing the news, people descended on the club looking for loved ones. Adding to their anxiety was the fact that many of the clubgoers were not carrying identity papers so victims could not immediately be identified.

"She's not answering the telephone and she's not saying anything," said a mother, dressed in a black leather jacket, crying in front of television cameras.

"We want information whether he's alive," said a visibly overcome woman, speaking about a family member.

Several major nightclub fires have been blamed on pyrotechnics igniting foam used for soundproofing, including The Station nightclub fire in the U.S. that killed 100 people in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in 2003 and the Kiss nightclub fire in Brazil, which killed 242 people in the university town of Santa Maria in 2013.

Raed Arafat, a government emergency situation official, said that people were treated for burns, smoke inhalation and lesions at hospitals around the capital. Twenty-five were reported in serious condition at the Municipal Hospital.