Twenty-seven people killed in Romania nightclub blast

Twenty-seven people have been killed and 155 people injured following an explosion and a fire at a nightclub in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, Romanian government officials and witnesses said.

People stampeded out of the club, which was in the basement of a Communist-era factory, as the venue filled with smoke, witnesses said.

TV footage showed police officers and paramedics trying to resuscitate young people lying on the pavement, while sirens wailed as more ambulances were deployed to the scene.

Several witnesses said there had been fireworks used during a rock concert inside the club.

A pillar and the club's ceiling went up in flames and then there was an explosion and heavy smoke, a witnesses, quoted by Reuters, said.

The Colectiv Club's Facebook page said the show would feature pyrotechnic effects.

A young woman who was released from hospital after suffering minor injuries described the club bursting into flames.

"In five seconds the whole ceiling was all on fire. In the next three, we rushed to a single door," she told television station Antena 3.

Raed Arafat, the deputy interior minister, said the victims were admitted to 10 hospitals in the capital.

He said the situation was "stabilising" but that many victims had no identification.

Gabriel Oprea, the deputy prime minister, said an investigation into the causes of the incident was already under way, and the health minister launched a public appeal for blood donations.

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis said in a statement: "I want to assure you of all support from rescuing forces and ask you to trust they put all efforts to limit the impact of this catastrophe."

An emergency meeting of cabinet ministers was set for early on Saturday to assess the incident.