* Fire started in stage area during performance
* Victims choked to death trying to escape blaze
* Third fatal fire in Novi Sad in recent years
BELGRADE, April 1 (Reuters) – Six people were killed in a
fire that tore through a packed nightclub in the northern
Serbian city of Novi Sad overnight, police said on Sunday.
Police said the fire appeared to have started in the stage
area of the Contrast nightclub during a live performance shortly
after 2 a.m. (0000 GMT).
The victims, who were in their early 20s, most likely choked
to death after locking themselves in the toilets of the club to
escape the fire, the head of the interior ministry’s emergencies
department, Predrag Maric, told state television.
Some 300-350 people are believed to have been in the club at
the time.
Investigative judge Ana Stamenic said 50 people had been
taken in by police for questioning, including the owner of the
club, and that prosecutors were considering charges of “causing
general danger.”
Novi Sad mayor Igor Pavlicic said the club had only recently
carried out a fire drill and was regularly checked for
compliance to safety regulations.
In 2008, eight people died in a fire in the Lounge cafe in
Novi Sad and three died in a fire at the city’s Putnik hotel the
previous year.
“This is a great tragedy,” Pavlicic told reporters. “The
wounds of past tragedies in Novi Sad have yet to heal, and now
we have another.”
(Reporting and writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Karolina
Tagaris)
