GOODBYE TO GRAVITY Bassist Dies; Death Toll From Bucharest Nightclub Fire Now At 51

GOODBYE TO GRAVITY bassist Alex Pascu died earlier today (Wednesday, November 11) after he was transported to Paris, France by plane, increasing the death toll of the October 30 Bucharest nightclub fire to 51.

GOODBYE TO GRAVITY guitarists Vlad Telea and Mihai Alexandru were among the 26 people who were killed the day of the fire, while singer Andrei Galut — the only surviving member of GOODBYE TO GRAVITY — was hospitalized with burns and injuries from smoke inhalation. Galut has already been transferred to a treatment center in the Netherlands.

GOODBYE TO GRAVITY drummer Bogdan Lavinius died on Sunday, November 8 while he was being transported to a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland by plane.

Lavinius suffered suffered a cardiac arrest during the flight to Switzerland, and the medical staff performed resuscitation manoeuvres on him for 70 minutes.

At the time of the drummer's death, the plane transporting him was on its way back to Romania because his condition had worsened.

76 people injured in the fire are still being treated in various Bucharest-area hospitals, with 24 in critical and serious condition.

The fire reportedly started after GOODBYE TO GRAVITY's pyrotechnical show went awry, causing the ceiling and a pillar to catch alight and producing heavy smoke.

Media reported that clubgoers initially thought the flames were part of the show and did not immediately react.

The concert was supposed to be a record-release party for GOODBYE TO GRAVITY's new album, "Mantras Of War".

The Station nightclub fire in that killed 100 people in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in 2003 during a GREAT WHITE concert was also blamed on pyrotechnics igniting foam used for soundproofing.

GOODBYE TO GRAVITY started as an unexpected mixture of former members from the heavy metal band THUNDERSTORM (which in their 10-plus years of activity opened for such heavyweights such as JUDAS PRIEST, MANOWAR, HELLOWEEN, RAGE and EVERGREY) and the winner of the 2008 national TV show "Megastar" (Romanian "American Idol" equivalent).