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On October 29, 1998, exactly at 11:42 pm, the first call was sent to SOS Alarm. He was shouted, prayed and appeased in the handset. He was burning in a clubhouse in Backaplan in Gothenburg.
At around 11:30 pm, furniture caught fire in a stairwell, which blocked the emergency exit of the premises at the same time. About 370 young people between the ages of 12 and 25 were in the party room to dance and celebrate Halloween. The room has only been approved for 150 people.
The panic broke out when young people understood that it was burning and that they had to go out. Due to pressure on the back, several people were pushed to the ground, squeezed and stuck together.
Some young people have broken windows to escape security. The windows were placed about two meters from the floor of the village hall, which meant that a window jump caused a drop of 5 to 6 meters.
37 people survived by jumping out the window, but many were seriously injured. A total of 213 people were injured under fire. 63 young people died.
Outside the room, they were thrown out, covered with blankets. Under some of the covers, young people's cell phones continued ringing. Anxious parents – who have looked for their children.
The police investigation began the same night and was subsequently described as the biggest crime victim in Swedish Polish history.
"When I'm blinded, I remember the seriousness, the chaos, the cry, the youth that lay everywhere and the way everything grew up and grew up," said one of the police officers.
The following day Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson (S) arrived in Gothenburg and visited the fire station.
Many survivors and involved in the rescue campaign describe the event as being caught in a war situation.
Just 20 hours after the start of the fire, the first press conference was held. Besides Göran Persson, the former city council president, Göran Johansson (S), also participated, who would deeply commit to the survivors.
"What happened to Backaplan has been my whole career, a crucial moment that has changed everything: there is one before and one after," says Lars Lilled, who has been named the municipality's highest-level crisis coordinator.
For the rest of Gothenburg, a long period of mourning has begun. A week after the fire, the royal family went to Gothenburg to commemorate the victims.
"Most people know what they did that day – the feeling when you heard about the news." The fire left deep marks throughout Gothenburg, says a woman at GP.
At the same time, one of the largest police investigations in the history of Sweden has begun. Thousands of hearings were held and more than 100 police officers participated in the investigation. A little more than a year after the fire, four young men were arrested for the deceased.
The four suspicious men claimed that they were denied free entry and that they would be delayed. They set fire to furniture blocking the emergency room in the emergency room
The men were sentenced to long prison terms. Said was eight years old, Hamid and Mansour seven years old and Mehdi three years old as a child. The names are fingering.
Lawyer Thomas Bodström was the plaintiff's lawyer for the majority of survivors and survivors. Three months after the completion of the work, he was offered the post of Minister of Justice.
Over the years, several ceremonies have been held in memory of the victims. In 2000, two years after the fire, the premises were cleared of fire residues. The wish was to make this place a memory room that could somehow benefit young people. The municipality paid for the renovation of the premises, which were opened on the third anniversary of the fire.
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary, a memorial was inaugurated outside the building, designed by Claes Hake. Today, however, it is a popular place for those who wish to express their sadness at the worst fire disaster in Gothenburg's modern history.
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