GOODBYE TO GRAVITY Drummer Dies From Burn Injuries; Death Toll Rises To 45 In Bucharest Nightclub Tragedy

According to the Bellingham Herald, Bogdan Enache, drummer in Goodbye To Gravity succumbed to his injuries tonight in Romania, bringing the death toll from last week’s tragedy to 45.

The interior ministry said Enache was being transported on a military plane to Zurich, Switzerland, on Sunday afternoon for treatment for his burns, when he went into a cardiorespiratory failure. The plane headed back to Bucharest, while medics tried to resuscitate him for 70 minutes. He died after he landed in Romania.

Read more at the Bellingham Herald.

As reported by the The Associated Press earlier, many in Romania have blamed lax government safety standards for the deadly blaze. Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his Cabinet resigned Wednesday after mass protests.

The district mayor where the nightclub is located was arrested, along with two town hall employees, for giving out a permit without it being authorized by firefighters, the anti-corruption prosecutors’ office said Saturday. Mayor Cristian Popescu Piedone resigned on Wednesday, saying he was morally guilty for the fire.

Guitarists Vlad Telea and Mihai Alexandru (pictured) are also among the 45 who died. The band’s voclaist Andrei Galut is said to be in serious condition at Elias hospital with burns on 45 percent of his body and injuries from smoke inhalation. Bassist Alex Pascu is reportedly at Spitalul de Urgenţă Floreasca (Bucharest Emergency Hospital), where he underwent surgery.

Witnesses told Antena 3 TV that between 300 to 400 mostly young people had been at the club, housed in a former factory, when Goodbye To Gravity’s pyrotechnical show went awry when a spark on stage ignited some polystyrene decor. Hundreds fled in a panic trying to get out of the Colectiv club’s only exit door from a basement in downtown Bucharest.