Bulgarian nightclubs will undergo strict fire safety checks after an explosion and fire at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest last week claimed the lives of 38 people and left hundreds injured.

This was announced by Nikolay Nikolov, director of the General Directorate Fire Safety and Protection of the Population.

Nikolov noted that the large sites for mass gathering of people will be inspected once again even if they had passed previous checks.

He added that the focus will be on sites with a capacity of more than 100 people, private bTV station quotes him as saying.

Nikolov stated that with the approaching of the winter season, the likelihood of fires increases.

He informed that in the last few days, five people had died and ten were injured after incorrect use of heating devices.

In his words, the most likely causes of domestic fires are faulty heating devices, which is why the general directorate will increase its regular information campaign.

Nikolov called on people to be careful and to refrain from using faulty heating devices.

As regards the protests of interior ministry officials, he said that more than a hundred firefighters had submitted their resignation requests.

Nikolov had called on firefighters to reconsider their decisions as this was neither good for the system nor for the citizens, as well-prepared cadres were being lost.