Five teenage girls die in Polish escape-room fire

Polish authorities say they do not yet know what started the blaze in the escape room, which was reported in the early evening. PHOTO: REUTERS

WARSAW • Five teenage girls died and one man was seriously injured last Friday after a fire broke out in a room where they were playing an escape game, in the northern Polish city of Koszalin, officials said.

"The victims of this tragedy are 15-year-old children, girls celebrating a birthday," Interior Minister Joachim Brudzinski told broadcaster TVN24.

Fire spokesman Tomasz Kubiak could only confirm that the dead were female, telling Agence France-Presse that "one man with severe burns was taken to an intensive care unit".

Local police press officer Monika Kosiec told reporters that the injured man is thought to be 25 years old.

Police and fire officials said they did not know yet what started the blaze, which was reported in the early evening.

Mr Brudzinski directed the state fire service to carry out fire security controls in every escape room across the country. There are more than 1,000 such facilities in Poland.

Escape rooms are popular around the world and offer a live-action experience in which players are locked in a room with one hour to figure out a series of clues and riddles to get out.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on January 06, 2019, with the headline Five teenage girls die in Polish escape-room fire. Subscribe