Bucharest nightclub fire leaves Romania stunned

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Media captionSorin Bogdan: "People thought the fire was part of the show"

At least 27 people have been killed after fire broke out at a nightclub in the Romanian capital Bucharest, government officials say.

Romanian media said a large fire took hold at the Colectiv club on Friday night, causing a stampede for the exit.

Emergency response chief Raed Arafat said 155 people were being treated in hospital.

Reports suggest the cause of the blaze may have been fireworks that were let off inside the club.

Witnesses said a spark on a stage where a band was performing ignited some of the polystyrene decor. A pillar and the club's ceiling caught fire and there was an explosion and heavy smoke, they added.

"People were fainting, they were fainting from the smoke. It was total chaos, people were trampling on each other," Victor Ionescu, who was at the club, told local TV station Antena 3.

Emergency services work outside a nightclub in Bucharest, Romania

Up to 400 people may have been inside the club, which was hosting a free rock concert.

Local journalist Sorin Bogdan told the BBC the club was in a converted former factory with two small exit doors, only one of which was possible to open initially.

A witness quoted by Romania's state news agency said terrified concertgoers had to break the second door down to escape.

Many of those being treated in hospital were suffering from smoke inhalation and severe burns, health officials said.

A Romanian woman, survivor of an explosion at a club, looks on as she wears a thermal first aid foil shortly after being rescued by firefighters — Image captionUp to 400 people were in the club

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis wrote on his Facebook page that he was "deeply grieved by the tragic events that happened this evening in downtown."

He added: "It is a very sad day for all of us, for our nation and for me personally."