on october 30 of last year, a metalcore band named “goodbye to gravity” held a free concert at the colectiv nightclub in bucharest. somewhere between 200 and 400 concert-goers crammed into a space that was designed to hold 80 people and, in what was essentially a repeat of the 2003 station nightclub fire, the band set off pyrotechnics which ignited the (flammable) soundproofing material attached to the pillars and ceiling. the fire set off a stampede for the doors but there was only one working exit, and by the end of the evening, 26 people had died in the club from burns and smoke inhalation, and another 184 were injured in some way. victims had to be transferred to hospitals as far away as switzerland and israel because local hospitals could not handle the sudden flood of patients. over the following week, another 38 people died in the hospital, bringing the total fatality count to 64.

outrage over the official response to the disaster – the realization that romania did not have the hospital capacity to respond to the injuries and that local officials had ignored occupancy and fire safety violations – fueled already-existing anger over government corruption. huge protests began on november 3 to demand that the government resign, which it did the next day. mourners have gathered outside the complex in which the club was located on the 30th of each month since then to commemorate the disaster. (naturally, the police block access to the club site itself.)