Romanian Prime Minister Resigns After Fatal Fire at Metal Concert

Photo from Victor Ponta’s Facebook

Romania’s prime minister, Victor Ponta, has resigned following mass protests in response to Friday’s fire at a metal concert that killed at least 32 people, The New York Times reports. The death toll from the blaze at Bucharest venue Colectiv, where Romanian band Goodbye to Gravity were celebrating their album release, has risen from 27 to 32. (130 people remain hospitalized.) The venue’s three owners have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, according to The Guardian.

The fire, which started when pyrotechnics ignited flammable foam insulations, led roughly 20,000 people to protest last night in Bucharest against lax safety supervision of public venues, according to the Times.

“I have the obligation to acknowledge that there is legitimate anger in society,” Mr. Ponta said in a statement, reports the Times. “People feel the need for more, and it would be wrong of me to ignore this.”

He continued: “I am ready to be the one to make this gesture that parts of society are waiting for, and starting today, I am resigning my mandate as prime minister. I do this because in my years as a politician I put up a fight in any battle with political opponents. However, I won’t put up a fight against the people.”

As the Times points out, Ponta had already been indicted this July, for “forgery, money laundering, and being an accessory to tax evasion.” Those charges, which he denies, date back to his time as a lawyer in 2007 and 2008. 

Comments are closed.