New details of the deadly fire that ripped through a popular Istanbul nightclub in the early hours of yesterday morning, killing 29 people, are beginning to emerge, while Turkish authorities have so far arrested nine people. Meanwhile, one survivor of the fire remains in hospital in very serious condition, according to the governor of Istanbul.
The fire started during renovation works at the Masquerade nightclub, located on the ground floor of a 16-storey building in the Beşiktaş district, and was so intense that it reached the third floor of the building before it could be extinguished by firefighters. However, all the victims were inside the nightclub and were employees of the club, as confirmed by the authorities, who have so far arrested several managers of the club and one responsible for the works being carried out in the premises. The Turkish Ministry of Justice has assigned three prosecutors and several detectives to fully investigate the tragedy.
Sources in the Istanbul fire service have indicated that the fire broke out during welding work being carried out as part of the works to improve the soundproofing of the premises and renovate the decoration; it was then that a spark may have triggered the fire – some media have spoken of an explosion, but there is no official confirmation of this – by igniting several flammable materials.
Most of those who perished inside the discotheque died of smoke asphyxiation; in particular, the fibreglass elements that formed part of the disco’s decoration could have given off large quantities of smoke due to the heat of the fire, which quickly reduced visibility and the availability of oxygen for those inside the premises, which also had only one exit. Most of the 29 deaths occurred within minutes.
Works at the nightclub were unlicensed
The Istanbul Governor’s Office has reported that the 4,000-capacity nightclub was closed during the Muslim month of Ramadan to carry out renovation works; the club’s owners were reportedly in a hurry to finish the work, as they intended to reopen during the public holidays celebrated in Turkey at the end of Ramadan, starting on 10 April.
Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu – recently re-elected in Sunday’s elections in Turkey – confirmed that although the venue had a licence to operate, the nightclub had not applied to the city council for the relevant building permits to carry out the refurbishment. “There is no record of any reform or work permit to modify the interior of the premises. Moreover, because the structure is two levels below the ground, it was hidden from view (so no one noticed the works). In essence, what was going on here was illegal” said İmamoğlu.
Some local residents have told Turkish media that the high number of victims was not a coincidence, especially considering that the fire broke out in the early hours of the morning. A neighbour living in the apartments right above the nightclub said that the owners had invited the workers to celebrate the iftar – the dinner to break the fast during Ramadan – inside the premises that night, which explains why there were so many people inside at the time.
Other witnesses of the fire report that explosions were heard and that the fire brigade arrived within 5 minutes, but that the flames were already going out of the discotheque towards the facade of the building; some people tried to help the victims in those distressing moments.
“If measures had been taken, this fire would not have happened”
Kazım Beceren, president of the Fire Protection and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜYAK), told the Turkish press that the main problem in this case is that precautions were not taken, “especially during the construction phase and especially during the on-site works. The fact that this fire resulted in deaths indicates that all these precautions were not taken into account”.
Other experts also point to the presence of a large amount of flammable materials inside as part of the renovation and redecoration works. In short, as is often the case in such tragedies, the fire in this Istanbul nightclub was the result of an accumulation of factors, deficiencies and negligence, which unfortunately took the lives of 29 people. “If an architect had been involved in the project, this fire would not have happened,” said the president of the Istanbul Chamber of Interior Architects.
VOTE
EDITORIAL TEAM
🧿 About us
.
Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
…
📣 Your ADVERTISING on Hispanatolia
.
🤗 HELP US WITH A DONATION:
💗 Paypal
