Romania PM Ponta resigns over nightclub fire

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has announced his resignation after mass protests in the wake of a nightclub fire that killed more than 30 people last week.

"I'm handing in my mandate, I'm resigning, and implicitly my government too," Ponta said in a statement on Wednesday.

"I hope the government's resignation will satisfy the people who came out in the streets."

Large crowds
Thousands of people took to the streets of Bucharest on Tuesday demanding cabinet resignations as the death toll from the fire at the Colectiv nightclub rose to 32.

The nightclub fire broke out at about 11pm on October 30, with hundreds of people inside attending a rock concert.

The three owners of the club have been arrested and charged with negligent homicide and assault.

Liviu Dragnea, the head of the ruling leftist Social Democrat Party, said on Wednesday that someone needed "to assume responsibility for what has happened". 
   aljazeera.com
4/11/15
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