At least 21 bars in Bulgaria are not meeting fire safety standards, which increases the likelihood for incidents of the scale of the recent Bucharest tragedy to occur in these drinking establishments.

Following the explosion and fire at the Colectiv nightclub in the Romanian capital on October 30, which has claimed the lives of fifty people and left hundreds injured, large-scale fire safety checks were initiated in Bulgaria.

A total of 136 nightclubs were checked over the weekend, with inspectors establishing a series of infringements, daily Monitor informs.

Evacuation plans, emergency exits and fire extinguishers were completely absent from 21 of the inspected bars, clubs and discos,

The managers of these establishment did not provide protocols of fire safety checks performed on heating devices.

The inspectors also identified lighting devices, which could easily ignite and catch fire.