Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Daniel Suciu said on Tuesday that there will be an analysis of whether or not additional security screening before entering the building are needed after an incident in which a person started a fire at the Palace of Parliament, adding that he would not want the incident to be used to close down the building or tighten public touring rules.

„Let’s establish some things and take any measures after a very accurate analysis of this incident and see if additional measures are required, because evry year between 200,000 and 240,000 visitors, Romanian and foreign alike, enter this building, and the area where this incident took place is the entrance area; it is the public area, the area where tickets are issued and before the security scanning. We will look into adding another scanner – we already have two screening systems purchased – before entering the building,” Suciu said at Parliament Palace when asked if more drastic measures should be taken, including in the exhibition area.

He added that he does not want this incident to be used to tighten public touring rules.

„I wouldn’t want this incident, serious as it is, to be used to close down this building, to tighten up the touring rules even more for all the people who want to visit it.”

The speaker added that he was alerted about this fire within five minutes of its occurrence.

„I asked if the evacuation was necessary in more than that area, I was told that it was not and in a few minutes I went down to see what happened. The fire was already extinguished and I confess that I was very concerned about the health of our employee,” Suciu said.

According to him, the incident was captured on the surveillance cameras in the dispatch of the Chamber of Deputies and firefighters, the Police and the special protection service were immediately alerted, while in the meantime Parliament employees from that area stepped in with fire extinguishers.

Asked if the person who set the fire was still in the building, he said: „I could not say, but I think that, since he is wanted outside the perimeter, it means that he was captured on the surveillance cameras leaving the premises of Parliament.”

Suciu added that the evacuation of the entire building was not required.

„The evacuation of the entire building was not required. That area is somewhat a contained area, because there is the waiting area for those who are going to pass the security screening and enter the building,” Suciu said, adding that there was only one fire outbreak.

Regarding the employee’s condition, he said: „It was a panic attack and, at least at the time when I spoke with the doctors on the ambulance, I understood that the lady did not want to be hospitalised, she was being medicated.”

The Romanian Gendarmerie said on Tuesday that the fire at Parliament Palace was not in the security area of the building, and the man who set fire to some stuff he owned had not reached the screening area of the Special Guard and Protection Service (SPP).

„Around 13:50hrs, at Parliament Palace, in the area of a souvenir shop located near the Constantin Brancusi Exhibition Hall, a man set fire to some stuff he had in his possession, after which he left the scene. Access to the area where the incident happened is free, according to the Regulation of Access to the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, before the security screening area of the SPP. It should be known that the man did not enter the security area inside the building.”

Workers of the local Fire Department went to the affected area to extinguish the fire and measures were taken to evacuate people.

Law enforcement officers swept the area inside and outside the building searching for the arsonist.

AGERPRES