Emergency Situation Chiefs Suspended After Nightclub Fire

Romania’s Interior Ministry has suspended top emergency situation officials following revelations that they lied when they said they were unaware of the existence of a Bucharest nightclub where 60 people died in a fire.

Three senior officials of the Bucharest branch of the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations initially denied knowing that the Colectiv nightclub was operating on the ground floor of a former shoe factory. A fire during a heavy-metal concert on Oct. 30 sent panicked revelers to a single-door exit.

However, it was revealed that a company faxed the inspectorate informing them of anther concert in Colectiv, more than a month before the deadly fire.

Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said he wants the officials to be dismissed from their jobs.

Photo: Vadim Ghirda/AP

Emergency workers walk outside the scene of a fire that occurred in a club in Bucharest, Romania.

The three club owners have been charged with manslaughter.+