Having no way to leave the room once locked inside is such an incredibly stupid and irresponsible oversight. What a sad and terrible waste of human life.
@@daerdevvyl4314 So you think there should be no way out even in an emergency situation for the sake of the game? Come on now. They have emergency exits for a reason.
@@daerdevvyl4314 The most reasonable thing to do would've been to NOT ACTUALLY LOCK THE PLAYERS IN. Every room I've been in, the game master has made it very clear that the door is NOT actually locked- exiting the room via the entrance is possible, but will void the game and cause you to lose.
Reminds me of the Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island in 2003 when a woman went to use the bathroom before the fire broke out and became trapped in the bathroom. She made a distress call on her cell phone and that phone was later discovered in the charred remains of the building with her body. Talk about feeling helpless hearing all that commotion suddenly happening outside the bathroom door.
This reminded me of the time when i did an escape room while living in new jersey and the person running it was telling us the rules and assured us that the door was not actually locked because i quote “in the state of new jersey, it would technically fall under kidnapping”
That's funny 😂 I did a haunted house in NJ and the person I was with was feeling claustrophobic at a tunnel we had to go through, and one of the actors told her to go through a side door. Like he made it sound like he was shady and going to murder her because he had to stay in character, but in reality it was the emergency exit and she reappeared with me a few rooms later. Nice to see NJ has their heads on straight about this kinda stuff 😅
The Burlington County Prison in Mt Holly, NJ, the oldest in the US, has done haunted tours throughout Oct for decades and they have multiple exits for emergencies...or teenagers that hate anything haunted but were dragged by her family, or so I heard...
@@emperorfanta364 I'm guessing the tour is different now but back in the late 80s/early 90s, when I was young, it was everything I hated - ppl in masks doing jump scares in the dark and Michael Jackson's Thriller playing multiple times. I'm 43 and my feelings haven't changed, especially abt Thriller. The song, and even more so the video, are both scary and I won't watch or listen to either. I fully admit to being scared of the dark
I was working as a fire alarm technician and this owner of an extremely flammable escape room was pissed that the fire department was demanding that they hire us to implement fire safety devices.
All the escape rooms ive been to have had "fake" locks on the exit door, usually a keypad where you have to enter in a code to win, but the door is fully unlocked and openable at any time.
@@pullt yep, this isn’t really a case of lack of regulations cause even without laws made for scape rooms there was already laws about easy access to safety exits. This was a lack of care and greed on cutting corners that took five young lives.
@@jamescarter3196 Avoiding locking people in a room with LNG is an overly technical slogan with massive caveats? I'll add "Avoid mentioning basic safety fundamentals among the mentally retarded" to help protect others from you.
I’ve worked as an escape room hostess and/or actress, and I’ve had to anonymously report a few of them for failing to adhere to proper safety standards regarding escape rooms. I don’t mind the loss of my job, as I don’t want to be responsible for contributing to the loss of anyone else’s life (or even put my own at risk).
Deaths are always awful, but something about these incidents where whole families or friend groups are wiped out feels indescribably tragic knowing there isn't anyone left to even tell their stories.
My late stepmother always said, that the only times she was nervous before a plane flight, was the times our whole family was on the same plane going on vacations, if something went wrong our whole family could be wiped out in an instance
yea when the Concord plane crashed there was this retired couple who had been saving their whole lives to go on this trip of a lifetime and brought their daughter and grandchild. They all died taking off so never even got to enjoy the holiday.
I’m in England and I’ve done two escape rooms and enjoyed the experience. In each of these one member of our group had a walkie-talkie so we could ask for clues. Also, there are fire exits. Those poor kids must’ve been terrified. How absolutely horrific. May they rest in peace.
@@Andrewtheradionerd the workers on the outside knew. even a hole let let air flow more could have saved them. They seem to have died from the smoke not the fire.
@@MakerInMotionno one is doing it because they are forced. They are doing it because they want to and no one should be able to tell people what they can and can't do so long it's not bothering anyone else. I can't think of anything more lame than a unlocked locked room. Yes let's play make believe! Weee!!If the door isn't really locked that is incredibly lame. Yeah let's just turn everything into t ball. No more bowling without bumpers. Only one person on a golf course at a time. Slow race cars down to 3 mph and have them on a rail so they can't crash. Sippy cups for everyone and no more solid foods. No more swimming pools over a foot and a half deep and flooties and goggles must be worn by everyone at all times. Fence off all natural bodies of water. No more buildings being made taller than one story and must have all foam padded surfaces. No more concrete period. Only rides allowed at amusement parks are carousels that don't move up and down and has a harnessing system to tether the rider to the ride. Anything I miss that you want to add?
Calling their father and only being able to say "help" before DYING... what an unimaginable nightmare. I hope the father has managed to get help coping with this experience.
As someone who used to work at an escape room in Australia, our rooms were always required to not have locking doors that you couldn't exit through. If you went through a locked door you would be able to open it from the other side to get back out. Any of our electronic locks required power to stay locked, so if there was an incident, everyone would be able to leave without requiring power.
Yeah, I saw a comment where someone mentioned there was a button to open the door and my worry was if the door could be opened without power. Also saw some say there were keys next to the door, but leaving a key hanging or in a box makes it easy for it to be dropped or knocked over in an emergency. When I once had to make an emergency 911 call, my hands shook so much, I blanked on my very easy code to unlock my phone, the code I've used for ages. I blanked that I don't even need to unlock the phone to call 911. I was just so damn scared (it was my sibling who needed assistance) that things that should've been easy just weren't. Honestly, I'm all for just having one door that isn't locked. Tell the people it's the exit and if opened, they forfeit, but it's there if they need it. No buttons, no keys, and no need to rely on someone not in the room (or the puzzle maker themselves being in the room) to get the guests out.
@@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley what you described at the end is how ours worked. All of the rooms had an exit door which could be opened with just leaning on it.
". . . required to not have locking doors that you couldn't exit though." It took me a while to understand what you were saying here. Maybe "Doors that could lock preventing egress were prohibited." or "All doors were required to provide unrestricted bidirectional flow with no lock or hinderance."
As I understand it the employee couldn't get to the door due to the fire, meaning the door was blocked by the fire. So the main problem here is not that the door was locked (which was bad enough) but the lack of a separate emergency exit.
also a very interesting fact is, how unprofessional the police turned out to be. they informed the media before the parents that the girls were dead. what is more the tragedy was streamed live by a local media portal (I mean the fireman + police at work and so on). the camera caught a police's spokeperson making a statement to the media that the girls were dead, and then one of the apparently clueless fathers approached asking: where are our kids because nobody's talking to us. it was horrible. and this recording was taken down only after a few hours
The camera (((caught))), so they weren't giving an interview or statement to be aired immediately before the family was notified. I've seen some reporters go door to door until someone tells them names after being told no by both fire and police. There is zero incentive for either PD or FD to release that if anything it makes their job harder. To be dealing with a tragedy then on top of it distraught family members and friends. Asking things that are both difficult and not yet investigated so cant be fully answered. There is an incentive for some reporters to get the scoop first.
Oh my, I forgot about that but I do remember it now! There was a huge outcry against both the services (for doing a shitty job with communication confidentiality) and the media for prodding - although admittedly less so
I’ve done so many escape rooms in my time and I’ve never seen one without multiple fire exits. What on earth was the owner of that business thinking of?! Those poor girls. 😢
They were thinking of money… definitely not human lives. It’s a profoundly stupid or a simply corrupt person who tries to run a business like this out of a residence without registering it properly or having a safety inspection done.
He wasn’t. He just figured that there wouldn’t be an issue and everyone would play the game and the next game would be more of the same. No one thinks that a tragedy like this will occur. Until it does…😢😢
Considering they were in a residential unit and he didn’t even had permits to operate a business there… he was thinking of a quick buck and nothing else.
@@biazacha Even if it was residential, it blows my mind that Poland allows a house to be heated via internal propane tanks. That would be illegal here in the United States.
@@SergeantExtremeI've seen some bizarre stuff from the Polish. Bought a house from one. You don't even want to know the stuff I've fixed. Hangs screen doors and has a gap. TAPES gap. It's a big one, too.
I'm Polish and I remember when it happened. It was.a very shocking tragedy. And less than 2 weeks later the mayor of Gdańsk (not very far away from Koszalin) was publicly assassinated during a charity event. It was a very sad month
My ship caught fire in the port of Gdinya on a training exercise in early 2019, haha. Loved the Gdin/Gydansk/Sopot con-urb, and it sucks to hear how bad things got
I remember it too. It's sad that (at least where I live near Kraków) it turned into a spooky halloween night story, told like some creepypasta, not an actual tragedy.
The worst thing is, they didn't recieved the call at all. They approached police at the site asking where are their kids, cause noone wanted to talk to them. And the police told the media first about the children deaths instead of parents. This whole thing was a disgusting mess. I cry for these parents.
I refused to take part in an escape room that did not have clearly marked and accessible (not locked) fire exits with access to an extinguisher inside the room. I was called a party pooper and buzz kill for it. Why did I refuse? Because I watch this channel and it's had the unintended effect of making me super conscious of public safety standards. Thank you for all the entertainment, and the education.
My dad worked as a firefighter for most of his life. We live by a seaside pier and my friends were allowed to go in the haunted house but I wasn't... because the copy of that haunted house went up in flames and killed six people while he was on call. No fire extinguishers. No marked exits. Bad wiring. Classmates just thought I was "weird" and "sheltered". But I ask the same questions in any activity or even a store. I better see some marked exits and I better see some fire extinguishers. Still do. Extra important now with my wheelchair. I'm the first person they leave to die, after all!
I work in hospital, literaly like 500m from where this all happend. On that day, I, like always, ended my shift on 7pm and was heading home. I saw all fire engines, ambulances and news crews at scene, but I was tired after 12h in work, so I didn't payed that much attention and only learned what happened day later. All girls are burried next to each other. What is probably worst investigation took years and is still unifinished to this day. Criminal prossesing only started this year, and it will be at least year ( if not more ) before any judgment will be passed.
@@sparklythings22 Because noone wants to take the goddamn responsibility, so the investigation is longer to figure out what the hell happened and who to prosecute.
I work as an escape room GameMaster. One of the rooms has no locks and is always open, and the other one is a door that is sealed magnetically. There is a switch inside the room, and a switch in my office. If someone is nervous about being trapped, we will just leave the doors unlocked/unsealed, and point out the emergency exit windows (yes, we have those in case the main exit isn’t an option in an emergency). We are lucky to be on ground floor level. I have never worked at a place that don't have 1. A locked door that couldn’t be easily unlocked. 2. No emergency exits. You (as a player) should avoid places that don’t have those things. It’s not difficult to come up with ways to make escape rooms safe, even if it slightly sacrifices “realism”. You can call the escape room places to ask about their lock policy, or visit a place to check out whether they have and practice safety measures.
"I have never worked at a place that didn't have... no emergency exits." You couldn't come up with a clearer way to say this? I still don't know what you mean by this.
...I honestly can't recall hearing about this at all despite how recent it is, but it's utterly unsurprising that even basic safety measures were skipped. Truly safety rules only come after people get killed.
It was in Poland. That's why. Unless you make it a point to keep up with all Polish news, then you wouldn't have heard about it. I mean, do you keep track of all news all over the world every day? Then why the whole "I can't recall hearing about this"? Unless you literally know of all the news everywhere all the time then you're obviously not going to hear about everything that happens. I mean... 🤷
@@J.C... in the video it was said that it made headlines around the world, but i also never saw any of it. And i'm from germany, so poland isn't even that far away 😅 But i wasn't interested in escape rooms back than and it probably was only small news you were probably unlikely to pick up anyways 😅
@@bradsanders407 Many escape rooms have a clear way to escape, where the doors can be unlocked in an emergency. You are not completely trapped but the doors are locked. Comes down to exactly the same thing if you ask me, what even is the difference between it beeing locked or not? Just solve the puzzle 👀
What a nightmare for the poor parents, and I feel sorry for the employee too. It sounds like he made a real effort, and I imagine that the focus of the location was entirely on the game experience.
@@hawkfirequeen5766 wait people can be arrested without being charged?? i never know that. so like does that mean they were only arrested for a day or two for investigation?
@@hombre6604yes? You get arrested accused of stuff but charges dont get filed. You can even get arrested without you leaving with them to the station- or you can just be detained
The last escape room I did (Escape Game in Austin, they're great!) clearly explained to us at the beginning of the game that at no point were we legitimately trapped and at any time, whether due to an emergency or just really needing to pee, we could leave the room. We didn't wind up doing that and focused on the game the whole time but it's great that facilities are accommodating and safe in this way now.
I have NEVER in my life done an escape room where the exit door was actually physically locked, at least not without some kind of failsafe button or key to leave, and I did quite a few before 2019. I don't know if it's because regulations are different in the US or if it's due to paranoia of lawsuits or whatever, but there is always, ALWAYS a way to get out of the room if there's danger or if you need to take a bathroom break.
I did an escape room at Destiny Mall (Syracuse NY) in 2017, and I remember that there was a failsafe button to open the door in case of emergency. It never occured to me that I was in any actual danger, even though I have an anxiety disorder that was much worse at the time. 2 years earlier, when I was the age of these victims, I probably wouldn't have been able to do it at all- and now, of course, this story is in my head.
@@KyrieFortuneyeah, basically any time you hold someone like that it’s unlawful detainment and that’s in most (if not all) states. Escape rooms are iffy because you are technically consenting to being locked up, but with the anticipation you’ll be let out. I don’t think escape rooms inherently are unlawful detainment for that reason, but because it’s such a thin like I’m sure they’re all trying to avoid potential lawsuits.
My wife worked at a local escape room in 2018/19 and i remember the owner taking this really seriously and even initiating new training for employees and reevaluating their emergency exits, making sure that each of their 3 themed rooms had an obvious unlocked door that everyone was told about at the start.
I have to be honest, I’m relieved America has such strict fire escape laws. Knowing in the event of a fire they were expected to be LOCKED IN and a staff member had to let them out is terrifying enough.
This channel has really taught me an eye for fire (and other forms of) safety. Prior to watching videos from this channel I literally paid zero attention to anything related to fire safety. Nowadays I tend to notice if something about it seems off (such as if a fire extinguisher seems hard to reach or is missing completely, if electrical wires are exposed, what kind of emergency exits there are, etc.)
I did an escape room in Prague a few years ago. It was always possible to leave the way I entered,, but in order to win, I had to get another exit unlocked. Which I did, and won a t-shirt saying I beat that escape room. That's the way to do it, imo - it felt safe and it was very fun.
@@loganstroganoff1284 That's the night club fire I remember most, because I lived not too far from it when it happened. Exactly one hundred people were killed. Half of them died hiding in the bathrooms. They believed the fire wouldn't reach them because it was the only part of the venue not constructed of wood. Apparently none of them ever heard fire consumes oxygen in its vicinity quickly. They likely asphyxiated or succumbed to the heat, before the fire got them.
Oh my god. I did an escape room recently for my friends fifteenth birthday. We where all around fifteen, mostly female. We laughed over it, but nearly four years earlier a group of girls our age had died in an escape room. Rest in peace.
I work in Architecture for commercial projects. I get clients all the time who ask why, for example, a door needs to be unlocked at all times from the inside (with some exceptions). Sometimes it's due to costs (even though it doesn't cost too much to swap out a latch). Sometimes it's sheer ignorance. But regardless of the reason, it's always shocking how many business owners and land lords don't know basic fire / life safety requirements.
I work as a game master in a Escape Room here in my country. The players are not locked with key, they have walkies talkies to ask for clues and to inform us if some of them are feeling ill, scared or claustrophobic. If you are going to lock the players inside the room then you MUST have an exit door unlocked
UGH!!! As someone with severe claustrophobia, I've never warmed to the escape room trend. I only did one once for my sister's bachelorette party, and it was a struggle to keep my anxiety down. This kind of scenario is something I kept picturing when we did it. Hearing about this has now guaren-fucking-teed that I will never do one again. It's infuriating and heartbreaking that this tragedy was allowed to happen. May the victims rest in peace.
The one escape room company I've been to a couple of times didn't rely on locked doors at all. The stories they set up were ones like "You've all been invited to this mansion, but it was a trap and you've been framed for murder and robbery, you have one hour before the police get here to solve the puzzles that will allow you to prove your innocence." So leaving the room wouldn't solve the problem you had. The doors were all unlocked and you were free to come and go at will to use the bathroom or get a drink of water, the only pressure was the time element. Also the initial introduction included the host showing you where the clearly marked emergency exits were, and this was all before 2019. One of the people I went with had similar claustrophobia to yours but she was fine, being able to just go into the hall and use the water fountain was a big help.
I also have claustrophobia. We did an escape room once with my daughter and son-in-law and I made darned sure I was able to get out if I panicked. We barely managed to solve it. We needed lots of clues.
They should have asked about what would happen if there was an emergency. Things happen. Plus fires can spread rapidly in confined spaces. It's awful there was no consideration for safety.
I have horrible claustrophobia. I had a full blown panic attack just crawling under my car to get something (the thought of being trapped 😢😮) so either watching these types of things or the thought has me terrified. I can’t imagine how horrible it was. Good for you that you were able to overcome your fear for your sisters party, I would have sat that one out even for my sister.
Escape room games existed in 1984. Some had very basic themes, often 1 page riddles that start with the phrase, "you are trapped in a room and to open the padlock you must solve a series of puzzles...." I had these on more than one home computer type back then.
I remember some early games, sometimes just a room but also the more involved adventure games that also relied on solving puzzles and collecting things you'd need later. I'd put the early ones around 1984 too, but there may have been earlier ones.
@@nlwilson4892 there were adventures back into the 70's, but I'm not aware of room / puzzle adventure games back that far. I think most were on the D&D, LOTR, & quest themes prior to the 80's.
@@mushyroom9569 you do understand that a door like that doesn't have to be like that right? It can be camouflaged but still told to the people that there is a door there.
i did an escape room once back in like 2017 and they told us the door wasn’t actually locked and if there was some kind of emergency or issue you can just leave god it’s terrifying to think about it if the door was truly locked and there was no emergency exits
In the US, the 2021 version of the IBC (building code used in most of the US) added a section for escape rooms. It'll be a few years before it starts to be adopted on a widespread basis, though local jurisdictions sometimes add provisions based on later editions of the code than the one they're otherwise using.
I don't know why they thought that was feasible AT ALL. "Here, carry these extra keys around, and constantly lock and unlock these doors for no reason in addition to your regular work". It's a lot of extra annoyance for, at best, the couple idiots in the comments who can't stand having to pretend the door is locked while they also pretend to sherlock holmes or whatever.
I remember reading about this article because the 2019 escape room movie released on the exact same day. January 4, 2019. The movie even had a newspaper at the very beginning of the movie that said 5 Burn Alive in the escape room which is still one of the freakiest coincidences ever
I'm glad there seem to be many Escape Rooms with fake locks, where it's just generally agreed as a rule that a door is locked but when you stop roleplaying that it's locked, you just run out.
This is why I only do escape games in computer or at home board game versions. This story is terrifying on so many levels! I am glad that these rooms are generally much safer now. I hope the families of these young victims have been able to find some measure of peace.
And yet I personally can't recall hearing about this at all despite the international attention, even accounting for COVID somewhat ending the world a year later. Huh.
@@MusicoftheDamned Ultimately "only" 5 people died, and people die all the time all over the world, so it makes sense that a lot of people wouldn't've heard of this one. Or maybe you did hear about it at the time but in quick passing and have forgotten it entirely.
@@MarcelVos The latter seems more likely, but yeah, I can't recall, especially since the news basically does nothing *but* report on tragedies even when it's being accurate and not sensationalist, inane, or even outright false. Shame that _Network_ has only gotten more true on that front too: death really is just another banal bottle of beer.
He could start live streaming the situation with the submersible craft that's on the expedition to view the Titanic. Too soon? _Yes, literally too soon._
A Pole here: The whole catastrophe was a huge blow against escape rooms here in the country. Many, many perfectly safe and secured locales were forced closed because of the gov's snap reaction to the accident. Many perfectly good rooms were closed and many owners that did take all the safety precautions lost their livelyhoods overnights, all because of some jackasses with no imagination.
I have mild claustrophobia and always felt uncomfortable with the concept of escape rooms. I can’t imagine how terrified they must have been, poor teenagers 🥺
I was thinking a similar thing. Imagine survivor guilt compounded by the very real sense that you "caused" those girls' deaths by not being able to get the door open.
@@notaperson9831 He was likely arrested on site because he was the only one who was actually there and was responsible for the people who died. Not sure anything further happened after that but he's obviously a first suspect when something like this happens.
I love that you mention the history of escape games and the old flash ones. Crimson Room and the others were so good. I absolutely loved those games growing up.
I remembered this also caused waves of inspection of escape rooms operating in China, and subsequently many closed down, pendamic also didn't help. Regulations are written in blood, such a pity, it's 5 lives too many.
Yeah I’ve never been to one that didn’t have a way out. Literally locking people in with no exit is a recipe for something horrible Like this to happen.
some people ask why the worker who tried to free the girls and got burns was also accused. the problem is he was supposed to sit by the CCTV screen when the girls were inside. but he left to a near shop. bad luck. so he was accused because of formal reasons.
Sounds more like he was accused because he didn't do his fucking job? Imagine if he'd actually watched it the whole time If that is the whole point of your position then you don't get to leave for even 5 minutes, wth.
@@loli_cvnt5622Could’ve been in a 10 minute break. Or has to use the bathroom. I don’t know the labor laws in Poland but I’d imagine they can’t stop you from doing either? In any case, yeah, the responsibility falls squarely on the owner for not ensuring the escape room could be escaped from in an emergency.
Like everyone else in the comments, all of the escape rooms I've been in have had an extra key or some fire escape. In more recent years, I've notice they don't even lock you into the room anymore, the door is left unlock for emergencies.
I live literally ten minutes away from this house, I remember driving around the city and finding out through the radio right after it happened. It was so bizarre, we couldn't believe what we were hearing. Even stranger was the lack of security tapes ot any other indication something went wrong in the area just a week later when I was walking by (though the building itself wasn't visible). As if all was already forgotten....
Yeah the scene was pretty much empty within a few days, or at least seemed so from the main street. The fact that it was among dense residential buildings made the whole thing even more unsettling
In all this horror, there is a bunch of beauty. You purposely made sure we appreciated their lives. You didn't say they were little girls or little boys, people. That makes me feel like my life makes a difference. Thank you.
8:16 Whoa. That's a headline I would like to see "Fascinating Horror" make a video about next: "Three teenagers arrested after 'much loved' swan is stolen and eaten". Probably make an excellent proper film. I'd gladly pay to see "I was a Teenage Ravenous Swan Murderer" in IMAX.
I run escape rooms in Bellingham, WA, and our rooms are never locked - we tell guests that they're free to leave at any time, but that their time will not stop once it begins (so guests can take calls, quit, use the restroom, etc. if needed). I always make sure to specify that in the event of an emergency, the guests should absolutely leave and that they can always expect a reschedule or refund. It's very interesting to learn a little more background about how these rooms came to be, and that the original IRL escape room is younger than I am! The win condition thing mentioned in the video is also accurate - we have one game with a second locked door to a "stage" for a rock band-themed room, but in our other rooms the players must simply complete an objective (IE pulling a lever locked behind a small door built into the wall to shut an AI down, solving a murder mystery, or successfully bringing a spaceship to a new planet without dying to a number of potential hazards). If you're thinking of playing an escape room, I absolutely encourage it, but always make sure you do your research and check the reviews first to make sure the owners are competent. Many are puzzle enthusiasts who are doing something they love, but some of our rival businesses certainly have some... lets just say, lower standards. Absolutely worth it for birthday parties, team-building exercises, wedding events, and so forth (as long as the majority of the group actually wants to do puzzles, of course - I've seen many people drag uninterested people into rooms with them and that just leads to bad experiences and wasted money)!
😢I can’t imagine how scared they must have been. I’ve been in escape rooms and it’s frustrating when you can’t figure out how to get out but it’s never been “real”. I’m glad changes were made but I’m sad there had to be a loss of 5 lives for those changes to be made.
Every media in Poland was talking about it when it happend. I still think about those girls from time to time, I can't believe it's been so long ago and I never expected to find a video about it on a random day.
The industry as a whole has always been very conscientious of safety, and as stated in the video we were basically anticipating with dread an accident like this one from more unscrupulous owners who saw $$$ and didn’t care enough to build for safety. Particularly in the early days we were all kind of on eggshells because governments/insurance/fire departments didn’t know how to classify us, so the concern was that one incident would lead to a massive overbearing government response as they react to the tragedy without becoming informed on our industry.
I don't think regulations specific to escape rooms is required. As you said, current regulations already required fire exits. This was essentially an illegal business and sadly resulted in these young women's deaths.
How long until we get The 2023 Titan Submersible Disaster? As soon as I heard about the debris field and conclusion that the vessel had catastrophically imploded, I imagined the theme music to your videos and your voice narrating the events. I WANT IT NOW
I don't know what goes on in Europe, but in America there MUST be an unlocked exit that can be accessed at any point, strictly for safety reasons. I've participated in several escape rooms, and they are really fun.
The building had once been a residential property. Generally fire codes for residential are more strict than those for commercial uses. And, as stated, the conversion of use should have triggered an inspection. It shows how poorly the whole property was set up.
I remeber that accident and share panic in the other polish escape-games and amusement parks it caused. I was traumatised how many of them didn’t have any fire-proofing or escape roots and suddenly wanted to fix that becore inspections.
thats just sad. in most of these stories there is some laziness or greed or preventable stupidity.. this was just an unfortunate event.. what a shame those young lives lost. youre delivery was spot on as always respectful and factual without sensation.
Trust me, this was 100% laziness/greed/preventable stupidity. Escape room owners have a responsibility to design safe games and we have known that since the beginning. It’s not even difficult to do, so there’s really no excuse.
I play all your videos, but I don't think I've ever clicked on one so quickly. What a title!! Having been a viewer of this channel for a bit now, I'm sure it's aptly named. I can't wait!! Thank you in advance; I know I'm going to LOVE it!!
This is why most modern escape rooms that use electronic locks have fire catches on them, usually tripped by either a central detector detecting fire, or by an individual unit tripping due to smoke. It's the SAME technology used in most fire detectors
I've done a few escape rooms and I always make note of when the staff clearly points out a 'escape button' for emergencies or even in the case someone has a claustrophobia anxiety attack
Another fascinating and informative case. Ive not been a fan of escape rooms for this very reason, the possibility of hindered egress should the staff be incapacitated or unable to be communicated with in an emergency. Ive already had too many extremely close calls and don't voluntarily put myself in a situation that's out of my control
Thank you for featuring this relatively unknown Polish case! It happened when Poland experienced kind of a boom in escape room popularity - they were popping up everywhere, and the quality of this experience varied from place to place. There were virtually no laws that regulated their existence, because everything was so new and government officials were unsure what to demand from places like that. This escape room was in a relatively small town, and as far as I remember, hosted in a private house so it had even bigger chance to fall through cracks with dangerous practices. After the tragedy many perfectly good escape rooms were shut down - even if government didn't forced the shutdown, private owners didn't want to rent properties to those kind of establishments.
After how much of this channel I've watched, my mind instantly constructed a scenario where all those candles together immediately started another fire.
Znicze (the type of candle you light on a gravestone) are a traditional way of remembering the dead in Poland. No one here (in Koszalin I mean, but i'm pretty sure it's general with any fire victims) makes any grusome associations between these remembrance lights and the circumstance of death. Tbh your comment showed me how much of an emotional attachement the candles have here as grief helping measure because I got borderline insulted that someone would make such a connection...
Nearly all candles I've seen are now fake LED candles. Not only are real candles dangerous, they're incredibly inefficient. They generate as much heat (burn as much energy) as a 80 W incandescent light bulb. But put out less light than a 1 Watt incandescent bulb (about as much light as a 0.1 W LED).
Good god, those poor kids. I feel bad for the staff member too; I can't imagine seeing that and not being able to help. And that dad who heard his kid say "help" over the phone just before the smoke got to them...god. What a senseless tragedy.
I played an escape game way before the 2010s. There was a place in Old Montreal by the pier that was a huge shipping warehouse, the upper floor was converted into an escape building i guess. It took more than an hour to go through, you had to solve a bunch of different puzzles to escape. There was actually a midpoint where you could sit down and rest and also leave if you didn't feel like continuing. I'm not sure if it's still there, but this was before 2004, for sure.
Have you noticed this strange coincidence with the "Escape Room" movie being out on 4th of January, same as the tragedy in Koszalin? I thought it was just the same day of the year, but it was in fact exactly the same day, both in 2019! Wow.
I have recently been to an escape room and we got safety instructions and were shown the emergency exists. Our actions were observed by staff all the time. It felt safe.
To me the most frustrating thing about this kind of accident is, since the whole "escape room" thing is make-believe anyway, there's no earthly reason for the doors to be _really locked_ in the first place. Hell, the _walls_ don't even have to be real, at least the interior ones. They might as well be paper printed to _look_ like real walls, so that in the event of an emergency, the customers can just Kool-Aid Man their way to safety.
Oh gods. I went to an escape room with my friends and my band director (it was a trip for honour band) and my first question was "where are the exits if there's a fire?" If i remember correctly there was just the unlocked door that led to the waiting room, which thinking back isn't quite the safest in a scenario like this-
Whenever I watch one of these I give myself a moment to be empathetic towards those lost and their families. My blurry eyes lasted a little longer thinking of the father whose daughter called him.
Having no way to leave the room once locked inside is such an incredibly stupid and irresponsible oversight. What a sad and terrible waste of human life.
I mean, that's literally the point of the game.
@@daerdevvyl4314 So you think there should be no way out even in an emergency situation for the sake of the game? Come on now. They have emergency exits for a reason.
@@daerdevvyl4314 The point of the game is to get out the intended way, not to die for the sake of "authenticity". Stoopid ass comment
@@daerdevvyl4314 The most reasonable thing to do would've been to NOT ACTUALLY LOCK THE PLAYERS IN. Every room I've been in, the game master has made it very clear that the door is NOT actually locked- exiting the room via the entrance is possible, but will void the game and cause you to lose.
@@daerdevvyl4314not really. What OP meant was "no emergency exit" in case something goes wrong.
That poor father having to hear his kid ask for help and not being able to do anything is haunting.
How helpless he must’ve felt 🥺
I know. That broke my heart.
Kept thinking the same thing. He’ll never forget it.
Reminds me of the Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island in 2003 when a woman went to use the bathroom before the fire broke out and became trapped in the bathroom. She made a distress call on her cell phone and that phone was later discovered in the charred remains of the building with her body. Talk about feeling helpless hearing all that commotion suddenly happening outside the bathroom door.
I have only one child so if that was me I'd probably just find somewhere high to jump off immediately after...
This reminded me of the time when i did an escape room while living in new jersey and the person running it was telling us the rules and assured us that the door was not actually locked because i quote “in the state of new jersey, it would technically fall under kidnapping”
That's funny 😂 I did a haunted house in NJ and the person I was with was feeling claustrophobic at a tunnel we had to go through, and one of the actors told her to go through a side door. Like he made it sound like he was shady and going to murder her because he had to stay in character, but in reality it was the emergency exit and she reappeared with me a few rooms later. Nice to see NJ has their heads on straight about this kinda stuff 😅
The Burlington County Prison in Mt Holly, NJ, the oldest in the US, has done haunted tours throughout Oct for decades and they have multiple exits for emergencies...or teenagers that hate anything haunted but were dragged by her family, or so I heard...
@@Cara-39 Bro I been to Mt. Holly and that said prison during October back in 2013.
@@emperorfanta364 I'm guessing the tour is different now but back in the late 80s/early 90s, when I was young, it was everything I hated - ppl in masks doing jump scares in the dark and Michael Jackson's Thriller playing multiple times. I'm 43 and my feelings haven't changed, especially abt Thriller. The song, and even more so the video, are both scary and I won't watch or listen to either. I fully admit to being scared of the dark
Was this after the Haunted Castle fire?
I was working as a fire alarm technician and this owner of an extremely flammable escape room was pissed that the fire department was demanding that they hire us to implement fire safety devices.
Fair. Fire marshals and such are oppressors.
@@NotSure109 I hope you are joking.
@@NotSure109 obvious troll is obvious. Unless you haven't been paying attention to FH's videos...
@@rich_edwards79 No I'm talking as an expert with personal experience, not just "UA-cam videos".
@@NotSure109 okay youtube commentor
All the escape rooms ive been to have had "fake" locks on the exit door, usually a keypad where you have to enter in a code to win, but the door is fully unlocked and openable at any time.
Regulations are written in blood.
That would take the fun out of it, just knowing you can walk out at any time.
@daerdevvyl4314 If you walk out you lose. The point is to win. Thus, you don't walk out.
@@daerdevvyl4314 just use your imagination, dude
@@daerdevvyl4314Until somebody dies in your room, sure.
Once again "The history of safety rules and regulations is written in blood."
The "Maybe don't lock people inside a building with LNG" lesson was already written well before this.
A sad truth😢
@@pullt There's no need to pretend you're one-upping somebody by blurting out overly-technical slogans with massive caveats
@@pullt yep, this isn’t really a case of lack of regulations cause even without laws made for scape rooms there was already laws about easy access to safety exits. This was a lack of care and greed on cutting corners that took five young lives.
@@jamescarter3196 Avoiding locking people in a room with LNG is an overly technical slogan with massive caveats?
I'll add "Avoid mentioning basic
safety fundamentals among the mentally retarded" to help protect others from you.
I’ve worked as an escape room hostess and/or actress, and I’ve had to anonymously report a few of them for failing to adhere to proper safety standards regarding escape rooms. I don’t mind the loss of my job, as I don’t want to be responsible for contributing to the loss of anyone else’s life (or even put my own at risk).
Good on you. You can always get another job but alas, you can't get another life.
@@genericamerican7574 Clearly you didn’t read my original post, m or on
Thank you for being a caring and conscientious person!
Good on you
Huge respect
Deaths are always awful, but something about these incidents where whole families or friend groups are wiped out feels indescribably tragic knowing there isn't anyone left to even tell their stories.
My late stepmother always said, that the only times she was nervous before a plane flight, was the times our whole family was on the same plane going on vacations, if something went wrong our whole family could be wiped out in an instance
@@firesong7825sn't it more? All those families now have to suffer. If even one person survived, that's one less family suffering.
@@wolfzmusic9706 I think they mean for a single family unit, not a friend group with their own individual families.
@@crypticcorvid that's what I mean too. The more deaths, the more families that suffer. The fewer deaths, fewer families suffer. Simple.
yea when the Concord plane crashed there was this retired couple who had been saving their whole lives to go on this trip of a lifetime and brought their daughter and grandchild. They all died taking off so never even got to enjoy the holiday.
I’m in England and I’ve done two escape rooms and enjoyed the experience. In each of these one member of our group had a walkie-talkie so we could ask for clues. Also, there are fire exits.
Those poor kids must’ve been terrified. How absolutely horrific. May they rest in peace.
@@jhoughjr1 They may not have realized or known that the windows were even there.
@@Andrewtheradionerd the workers on the outside knew. even a hole let let air flow more could have saved them. They seem to have died from the smoke not the fire.
@@jhoughjr1 you mean an air hole to feed the fire so they burned instead of died of smoke inhalation.
@@jhoughjr1 You do know that oxygen feeds fire don’t you?
The only solace is that the small space means they probably passed out quickly rather than suffer for long. What an utterly avoidable tragedy….
I did an escape room once. Before we began they explained the emergency exits like five times and made us repeat back where they were.
Good!
That’s great policy!
Was it before or after this tragedy in 2019?
Most escape rooms only have "locked" doors. As in, everyone agrees its locked, but you aren't actually trapped.
I should hope so. The only people who should have the authority to lock a person in a room are police and that's only after you did a crime.
@@MakerInMotion agree!
@@MakerInMotion They can actually do it to you for up to 2 days even if you didn't do a crime.
@@MakerInMotionno one is doing it because they are forced. They are doing it because they want to and no one should be able to tell people what they can and can't do so long it's not bothering anyone else. I can't think of anything more lame than a unlocked locked room. Yes let's play make believe! Weee!!If the door isn't really locked that is incredibly lame. Yeah let's just turn everything into t ball. No more bowling without bumpers. Only one person on a golf course at a time. Slow race cars down to 3 mph and have them on a rail so they can't crash. Sippy cups for everyone and no more solid foods. No more swimming pools over a foot and a half deep and flooties and goggles must be worn by everyone at all times. Fence off all natural bodies of water. No more buildings being made taller than one story and must have all foam padded surfaces. No more concrete period. Only rides allowed at amusement parks are carousels that don't move up and down and has a harnessing system to tether the rider to the ride. Anything I miss that you want to add?
@@bradsanders407 Dude it’s already a fake game you aren’t literally imprisoned forever in an escape room lmfao. Calm the hell down.
Calling their father and only being able to say "help" before DYING... what an unimaginable nightmare. I hope the father has managed to get help coping with this experience.
That broke me. :( It shows the humanity and breaks my heart.
As someone who used to work at an escape room in Australia, our rooms were always required to not have locking doors that you couldn't exit through. If you went through a locked door you would be able to open it from the other side to get back out. Any of our electronic locks required power to stay locked, so if there was an incident, everyone would be able to leave without requiring power.
Same
Yeah, I saw a comment where someone mentioned there was a button to open the door and my worry was if the door could be opened without power. Also saw some say there were keys next to the door, but leaving a key hanging or in a box makes it easy for it to be dropped or knocked over in an emergency. When I once had to make an emergency 911 call, my hands shook so much, I blanked on my very easy code to unlock my phone, the code I've used for ages. I blanked that I don't even need to unlock the phone to call 911. I was just so damn scared (it was my sibling who needed assistance) that things that should've been easy just weren't. Honestly, I'm all for just having one door that isn't locked. Tell the people it's the exit and if opened, they forfeit, but it's there if they need it. No buttons, no keys, and no need to rely on someone not in the room (or the puzzle maker themselves being in the room) to get the guests out.
@@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley what you described at the end is how ours worked. All of the rooms had an exit door which could be opened with just leaning on it.
". . . required to not have locking doors that you couldn't exit though." It took me a while to understand what you were saying here. Maybe "Doors that could lock preventing egress were prohibited." or "All doors were required to provide unrestricted bidirectional flow with no lock or hinderance."
As I understand it the employee couldn't get to the door due to the fire, meaning the door was blocked by the fire. So the main problem here is not that the door was locked (which was bad enough) but the lack of a separate emergency exit.
also a very interesting fact is, how unprofessional the police turned out to be. they informed the media before the parents that the girls were dead. what is more the tragedy was streamed live by a local media portal (I mean the fireman + police at work and so on). the camera caught a police's spokeperson making a statement to the media that the girls were dead, and then one of the apparently clueless fathers approached asking: where are our kids because nobody's talking to us.
it was horrible. and this recording was taken down only after a few hours
So the news did their jobs?
They're putting the blame on the police not the media.
The camera (((caught))), so they weren't giving an interview or statement to be aired immediately before the family was notified. I've seen some reporters go door to door until someone tells them names after being told no by both fire and police. There is zero incentive for either PD or FD to release that if anything it makes their job harder. To be dealing with a tragedy then on top of it distraught family members and friends. Asking things that are both difficult and not yet investigated so cant be fully answered. There is an incentive for some reporters to get the scoop first.
Oh my, I forgot about that but I do remember it now! There was a huge outcry against both the services (for doing a shitty job with communication confidentiality) and the media for prodding - although admittedly less so
@@jhoughjr1yeah see it happen to you and be all snarky-sarcastic then, Dbag
I’ve done so many escape rooms in my time and I’ve never seen one without multiple fire exits. What on earth was the owner of that business thinking of?! Those poor girls. 😢
They were thinking of money… definitely not human lives. It’s a profoundly stupid or a simply corrupt person who tries to run a business like this out of a residence without registering it properly or having a safety inspection done.
He wasn’t. He just figured that there wouldn’t be an issue and everyone would play the game and the next game would be more of the same. No one thinks that a tragedy like this will occur. Until it does…😢😢
Considering they were in a residential unit and he didn’t even had permits to operate a business there… he was thinking of a quick buck and nothing else.
@@biazacha Even if it was residential, it blows my mind that Poland allows a house to be heated via internal propane tanks. That would be illegal here in the United States.
@@SergeantExtremeI've seen some bizarre stuff from the Polish. Bought a house from one. You don't even want to know the stuff I've fixed.
Hangs screen doors and has a gap. TAPES gap. It's a big one, too.
I'm Polish and I remember when it happened. It was.a very shocking tragedy. And less than 2 weeks later the mayor of Gdańsk (not very far away from Koszalin) was publicly assassinated during a charity event. It was a very sad month
My ship caught fire in the port of Gdinya on a training exercise in early 2019, haha. Loved the Gdin/Gydansk/Sopot con-urb, and it sucks to hear how bad things got
Dang.
I remember it too. It's sad that (at least where I live near Kraków) it turned into a spooky halloween night story, told like some creepypasta, not an actual tragedy.
🫂
thats horrible
i never thought of Poland as the type of country where that happened..
Imagine being the father, just chilling home, happy to have the kid out of the house. And then receive that call. That is true horror.
The absolute worst.
I mean the kid is out of the house for good.
The worst thing is, they didn't recieved the call at all. They approached police at the site asking where are their kids, cause noone wanted to talk to them. And the police told the media first about the children deaths instead of parents. This whole thing was a disgusting mess. I cry for these parents.
I refused to take part in an escape room that did not have clearly marked and accessible (not locked) fire exits with access to an extinguisher inside the room. I was called a party pooper and buzz kill for it. Why did I refuse? Because I watch this channel and it's had the unintended effect of making me super conscious of public safety standards. Thank you for all the entertainment, and the education.
Can’t fault you
Very smart.
My dad worked as a firefighter for most of his life. We live by a seaside pier and my friends were allowed to go in the haunted house but I wasn't... because the copy of that haunted house went up in flames and killed six people while he was on call. No fire extinguishers. No marked exits. Bad wiring. Classmates just thought I was "weird" and "sheltered". But I ask the same questions in any activity or even a store. I better see some marked exits and I better see some fire extinguishers. Still do. Extra important now with my wheelchair. I'm the first person they leave to die, after all!
@@jamie1602 I mean, I hope you never get abandoned, but we've all seen the horrors on this channel. Take no certainties.
Party pooper
I work in hospital, literaly like 500m from where this all happend. On that day, I, like always, ended my shift on 7pm and was heading home. I saw all fire engines, ambulances and news crews at scene, but I was tired after 12h in work, so I didn't payed that much attention and only learned what happened day later.
All girls are burried next to each other. What is probably worst investigation took years and is still unifinished to this day. Criminal prossesing only started this year, and it will be at least year ( if not more ) before any judgment will be passed.
do you know why has it taken so long??
@@sparklythings22 Because that's how juditial system in this country works.
@@sparklythings22 Because noone wants to take the goddamn responsibility, so the investigation is longer to figure out what the hell happened and who to prosecute.
Has anything happened since?
I work as an escape room GameMaster. One of the rooms has no locks and is always open, and the other one is a door that is sealed magnetically. There is a switch inside the room, and a switch in my office. If someone is nervous about being trapped, we will just leave the doors unlocked/unsealed, and point out the emergency exit windows (yes, we have those in case the main exit isn’t an option in an emergency). We are lucky to be on ground floor level. I have never worked at a place that don't have 1. A locked door that couldn’t be easily unlocked. 2. No emergency exits. You (as a player) should avoid places that don’t have those things. It’s not difficult to come up with ways to make escape rooms safe, even if it slightly sacrifices “realism”. You can call the escape room places to ask about their lock policy, or visit a place to check out whether they have and practice safety measures.
"I have never worked at a place that didn't have... no emergency exits." You couldn't come up with a clearer way to say this? I still don't know what you mean by this.
@@aspensulphate Please relax. Maybe English isn't their first language.
@@chunky3665you cared enough to comment honey ;)
@@aspensulphatejust replace no with any and you'll be fine
Doors are 'easy to unlock' until they aren't, like in this tragedy...
...I honestly can't recall hearing about this at all despite how recent it is, but it's utterly unsurprising that even basic safety measures were skipped. Truly safety rules only come after people get killed.
It was in Poland. That's why. Unless you make it a point to keep up with all Polish news, then you wouldn't have heard about it.
I mean, do you keep track of all news all over the world every day? Then why the whole "I can't recall hearing about this"? Unless you literally know of all the news everywhere all the time then you're obviously not going to hear about everything that happens.
I mean... 🤷
@@J.C... in the video it was said that it made headlines around the world, but i also never saw any of it. And i'm from germany, so poland isn't even that far away 😅
But i wasn't interested in escape rooms back than and it probably was only small news you were probably unlikely to pick up anyways 😅
Yes let's make unlocked locked rooms. How fun and exciting. You know just incase that billion to 1 shot comes down the wire.
@@bradsanders407 Found the idiot who would rather kill his customers than implement basic safety regulations that have been standard for decades.
@@bradsanders407 Many escape rooms have a clear way to escape, where the doors can be unlocked in an emergency. You are not completely trapped but the doors are locked. Comes down to exactly the same thing if you ask me, what even is the difference between it beeing locked or not? Just solve the puzzle 👀
What a nightmare for the poor parents, and I feel sorry for the employee too. It sounds like he made a real effort, and I imagine that the focus of the location was entirely on the game experience.
Yeah, I am not sure I agree with the employee being arrested. He was also a victim in this.
@stan8479 The employee was arrested, but it doesn't seem like they were charged with anything.
@@hawkfirequeen5766 wait people can be arrested without being charged?? i never know that. so like does that mean they were only arrested for a day or two for investigation?
@@hombre6604yes? You get arrested accused of stuff but charges dont get filed. You can even get arrested without you leaving with them to the station- or you can just be detained
How did he make any effort? 😂
Those poor kids. The fear they must've had towards the end would be awful. And that haunting phonecall to their dad 😩😩
The last escape room I did (Escape Game in Austin, they're great!) clearly explained to us at the beginning of the game that at no point were we legitimately trapped and at any time, whether due to an emergency or just really needing to pee, we could leave the room. We didn't wind up doing that and focused on the game the whole time but it's great that facilities are accommodating and safe in this way now.
What happened in this tragedy is just awful. In a Birthday of one of the victims to die in so tragic way...
😂😂😂😂😂
@@petepillow8642 rude
Absolutely, also they were all teenagers, so young
At least they didn't burn to death.
I have NEVER in my life done an escape room where the exit door was actually physically locked, at least not without some kind of failsafe button or key to leave, and I did quite a few before 2019. I don't know if it's because regulations are different in the US or if it's due to paranoia of lawsuits or whatever, but there is always, ALWAYS a way to get out of the room if there's danger or if you need to take a bathroom break.
I did an escape room at Destiny Mall (Syracuse NY) in 2017, and I remember that there was a failsafe button to open the door in case of emergency. It never occured to me that I was in any actual danger, even though I have an anxiety disorder that was much worse at the time. 2 years earlier, when I was the age of these victims, I probably wouldn't have been able to do it at all- and now, of course, this story is in my head.
Apparently, in some states they straight up cannot lock it or it might count as kidnapping...
@@KyrieFortuneyeah, basically any time you hold someone like that it’s unlawful detainment and that’s in most (if not all) states. Escape rooms are iffy because you are technically consenting to being locked up, but with the anticipation you’ll be let out. I don’t think escape rooms inherently are unlawful detainment for that reason, but because it’s such a thin like I’m sure they’re all trying to avoid potential lawsuits.
My wife worked at a local escape room in 2018/19 and i remember the owner taking this really seriously and even initiating new training for employees and reevaluating their emergency exits, making sure that each of their 3 themed rooms had an obvious unlocked door that everyone was told about at the start.
I have to be honest, I’m relieved America has such strict fire escape laws. Knowing in the event of a fire they were expected to be LOCKED IN and a staff member had to let them out is terrifying enough.
Relying on a staff member to become a first responder is absolutely insane.
Poland takes all the L's, especially in terms of being invaded.
America's strong fire codes are a result of many disasters, this channel has taught me
@@nikobellic570 kind of a theme on this channel. Something bad has to happen for us to learn
@@nikobellic570Regulations are written in blood
This channel has really taught me an eye for fire (and other forms of) safety. Prior to watching videos from this channel I literally paid zero attention to anything related to fire safety. Nowadays I tend to notice if something about it seems off (such as if a fire extinguisher seems hard to reach or is missing completely, if electrical wires are exposed, what kind of emergency exits there are, etc.)
I did an escape room in Prague a few years ago. It was always possible to leave the way I entered,, but in order to win, I had to get another exit unlocked. Which I did, and won a t-shirt saying I beat that escape room. That's the way to do it, imo - it felt safe and it was very fun.
It seems like the most catastrophic of disasters start from the most trivial of circumstances.
Always.
Like the station fire. Some amateur pyrotechnics and amateur soundproofing came together to cause the death of dozens.
Life is that way...
@@loganstroganoff1284 That's the night club fire I remember most, because I lived not too far from it when it happened. Exactly one hundred people were killed. Half of them died hiding in the bathrooms. They believed the fire wouldn't reach them because it was the only part of the venue not constructed of wood. Apparently none of them ever heard fire consumes oxygen in its vicinity quickly. They likely asphyxiated or succumbed to the heat, before the fire got them.
Oh my god. I did an escape room recently for my friends fifteenth birthday. We where all around fifteen, mostly female. We laughed over it, but nearly four years earlier a group of girls our age had died in an escape room. Rest in peace.
I work in Architecture for commercial projects. I get clients all the time who ask why, for example, a door needs to be unlocked at all times from the inside (with some exceptions). Sometimes it's due to costs (even though it doesn't cost too much to swap out a latch). Sometimes it's sheer ignorance. But regardless of the reason, it's always shocking how many business owners and land lords don't know basic fire / life safety requirements.
I work as a game master in a Escape Room here in my country. The players are not locked with key, they have walkies talkies to ask for clues and to inform us if some of them are feeling ill, scared or claustrophobic. If you are going to lock the players inside the room then you MUST have an exit door unlocked
Those poor parents! Especially the one who received a phone call from their dying child...that was terrible.
Great video, again! Cheers! ❤
UGH!!! As someone with severe claustrophobia, I've never warmed to the escape room trend. I only did one once for my sister's bachelorette party, and it was a struggle to keep my anxiety down. This kind of scenario is something I kept picturing when we did it. Hearing about this has now guaren-fucking-teed that I will never do one again. It's infuriating and heartbreaking that this tragedy was allowed to happen. May the victims rest in peace.
The one escape room company I've been to a couple of times didn't rely on locked doors at all. The stories they set up were ones like "You've all been invited to this mansion, but it was a trap and you've been framed for murder and robbery, you have one hour before the police get here to solve the puzzles that will allow you to prove your innocence." So leaving the room wouldn't solve the problem you had. The doors were all unlocked and you were free to come and go at will to use the bathroom or get a drink of water, the only pressure was the time element. Also the initial introduction included the host showing you where the clearly marked emergency exits were, and this was all before 2019. One of the people I went with had similar claustrophobia to yours but she was fine, being able to just go into the hall and use the water fountain was a big help.
I also have claustrophobia. We did an escape room once with my daughter and son-in-law and I made darned sure I was able to get out if I panicked. We barely managed to solve it. We needed lots of clues.
They should have asked about what would happen if there was an emergency. Things happen. Plus fires can spread rapidly in confined spaces. It's awful there was no consideration for safety.
I have horrible claustrophobia. I had a full blown panic attack just crawling under my car to get something (the thought of being trapped 😢😮) so either watching these types of things or the thought has me terrified. I can’t imagine how horrible it was. Good for you that you were able to overcome your fear for your sisters party, I would have sat that one out even for my sister.
Great story karen
Escape room games existed in 1984. Some had very basic themes, often 1 page riddles that start with the phrase, "you are trapped in a room and to open the padlock you must solve a series of puzzles...." I had these on more than one home computer type back then.
I remember some early games, sometimes just a room but also the more involved adventure games that also relied on solving puzzles and collecting things you'd need later. I'd put the early ones around 1984 too, but there may have been earlier ones.
@@nlwilson4892 there were adventures back into the 70's, but I'm not aware of room / puzzle adventure games back that far. I think most were on the D&D, LOTR, & quest themes prior to the 80's.
All around you are the carcasses of slain ice dwarfs.
@@thefonzkiss that'll teach 'em
I suppose Zork could have been one.
Surely if you can create such an immersive environment by boarding up the windows, you can put in an emergency exit door. Goodness…
Putting a door in a wall is a wee bit harder than covering up a window.
Why even bother trying to create an immersive environment if you’re just going to ruin the effect with a distinctly out-of-place door and neon sign?
@@mushyroom9569 you do understand that a door like that doesn't have to be like that right? It can be camouflaged but still told to the people that there is a door there.
@@beertlont776 Pretty sure camouflaging an emergency exit would be legally viewed as just as bad as not having one at all.
@@mushyroom9569 yea you are probably right. Don't know why I typed all that. My bad.
i did an escape room once back in like 2017 and they told us the door wasn’t actually locked and if there was some kind of emergency or issue you can just leave
god it’s terrifying to think about it if the door was truly locked and there was no emergency exits
In the US, the 2021 version of the IBC (building code used in most of the US) added a section for escape rooms. It'll be a few years before it starts to be adopted on a widespread basis, though local jurisdictions sometimes add provisions based on later editions of the code than the one they're otherwise using.
Why did we need a new section? I thought the default position was "Don't lock people into rooms, dumbass", with the exception of prisons and such.
The phrase "fly by night" comes to mind.
They really thought that having an employee unlock EACH door was feasible in an emergency?
I don't know why they thought that was feasible AT ALL. "Here, carry these extra keys around, and constantly lock and unlock these doors for no reason in addition to your regular work". It's a lot of extra annoyance for, at best, the couple idiots in the comments who can't stand having to pretend the door is locked while they also pretend to sherlock holmes or whatever.
I remember reading about this article because the 2019 escape room movie released on the exact same day. January 4, 2019. The movie even had a newspaper at the very beginning of the movie that said 5 Burn Alive in the escape room which is still one of the freakiest coincidences ever
i love the concept of escape rooms but in reality it is a panic inducing nightmare. the one we went to locked us in, too, it was a while ago.
Scariest coincidence is that the 2019 movie “Escape Room” was released on the exact same day as the tragedy occurred.
Wut heck O.O
The premiere of this movie in Poland was cancelled for a while because of what happened.
And that game is a tragedy itself 😢
I looked it up ready to call you on a lie because there was no way this was possible, and holy damn, you are right.
Oh wow
Had no idea that those old flash escape games i used to play were what inspired escape rooms. Very cool.
@@thomaseriksen6885 they showed The Crimson Room, I loved that series
Escape rooms just sound downright terrifying when you stop and think about it, really
I'm glad there seem to be many Escape Rooms with fake locks, where it's just generally agreed as a rule that a door is locked but when you stop roleplaying that it's locked, you just run out.
I agree, I would never want to try it, I’d have a panic attack! 😊
I can't imagine thinking they're fun. It wouldn't be my choice of a fun way to spend a day.
🙄
Yeah, that's the whole point
This is why I only do escape games in computer or at home board game versions. This story is terrifying on so many levels! I am glad that these rooms are generally much safer now. I hope the families of these young victims have been able to find some measure of peace.
This is heartbreaking. What young people, I can't image the fear. My heart goes out to the families
2019 this has got to be the most recent tragedy you have covered yet at least among the most recent
And yet I personally can't recall hearing about this at all despite the international attention, even accounting for COVID somewhat ending the world a year later. Huh.
@@MusicoftheDamnedI only remember this one because the escape room movie was meant to come out but they pushed it back because of this disaster.
@@MusicoftheDamned Ultimately "only" 5 people died, and people die all the time all over the world, so it makes sense that a lot of people wouldn't've heard of this one. Or maybe you did hear about it at the time but in quick passing and have forgotten it entirely.
@@MarcelVos The latter seems more likely, but yeah, I can't recall, especially since the news basically does nothing *but* report on tragedies even when it's being accurate and not sensationalist, inane, or even outright false. Shame that _Network_ has only gotten more true on that front too: death really is just another banal bottle of beer.
He could start live streaming the situation with the submersible craft that's on the expedition to view the Titanic. Too soon? _Yes, literally too soon._
This channel has the creepiest music for its concept by far. There's something foreboding and haunting about it.
A Pole here: The whole catastrophe was a huge blow against escape rooms here in the country. Many, many perfectly safe and secured locales were forced closed because of the gov's snap reaction to the accident. Many perfectly good rooms were closed and many owners that did take all the safety precautions lost their livelyhoods overnights, all because of some jackasses with no imagination.
don't tell that to the rEgUlAtIoNs ArE wRiTtEn In BlOoD crowd that spams every one of this channels videos
RIP to those 5 teens, and condolences to their families. Great vid FH!
I have mild claustrophobia and always felt uncomfortable with the concept of escape rooms. I can’t imagine how terrified they must have been, poor teenagers 🥺
man beyond the kids who died, that poor worker. imagine knowing there are 5 kids locked in a room, they're doomed and you're unable to help.
I was thinking a similar thing. Imagine survivor guilt compounded by the very real sense that you "caused" those girls' deaths by not being able to get the door open.
Why was he arrested?? It sounds like there was nothing else he could have done
@@notaperson9831 He was likely arrested on site because he was the only one who was actually there and was responsible for the people who died. Not sure anything further happened after that but he's obviously a first suspect when something like this happens.
I love that you mention the history of escape games and the old flash ones. Crimson Room and the others were so good. I absolutely loved those games growing up.
I remembered this also caused waves of inspection of escape rooms operating in China, and subsequently many closed down, pendamic also didn't help.
Regulations are written in blood, such a pity, it's 5 lives too many.
Just watched a short form Cdrama which used an escape room business as the backdrop for the story. I wonder if they're making a bit of a comeback.
I have gone to several escape room games before 2019 in the US, and all of them had a way to get out in an emergency.
Yeah I’ve never been to one that didn’t have a way out. Literally locking people in with no exit is a recipe for something horrible
Like this to happen.
some people ask why the worker who tried to free the girls and got burns was also accused.
the problem is he was supposed to sit by the CCTV screen when the girls were inside. but he left to a near shop. bad luck. so he was accused because of formal reasons.
It sounds like he definitely shared responsibility.
Sounds more like he was accused because he didn't do his fucking job? Imagine if he'd actually watched it the whole time
If that is the whole point of your position then you don't get to leave for even 5 minutes, wth.
@@loli_cvnt5622Could’ve been in a 10 minute break. Or has to use the bathroom. I don’t know the labor laws in Poland but I’d imagine they can’t stop you from doing either? In any case, yeah, the responsibility falls squarely on the owner for not ensuring the escape room could be escaped from in an emergency.
@@TheNwr1 You can't have breaks when there is ongoing game in one of the rooms. It was pure and gross negligence.
Like everyone else in the comments, all of the escape rooms I've been in have had an extra key or some fire escape. In more recent years, I've notice they don't even lock you into the room anymore, the door is left unlock for emergencies.
I live literally ten minutes away from this house, I remember driving around the city and finding out through the radio right after it happened. It was so bizarre, we couldn't believe what we were hearing. Even stranger was the lack of security tapes ot any other indication something went wrong in the area just a week later when I was walking by (though the building itself wasn't visible). As if all was already forgotten....
Yeah the scene was pretty much empty within a few days, or at least seemed so from the main street. The fact that it was among dense residential buildings made the whole thing even more unsettling
In all this horror, there is a bunch of beauty. You purposely made sure we appreciated their lives. You didn't say they were little girls or little boys, people. That makes me feel like my life makes a difference. Thank you.
Everything about your videos is captivating, especially the music. Thank you!!
Every room is an escape room while it is on fire.
8:16
Whoa. That's a headline I would like to see "Fascinating Horror" make a video about next:
"Three teenagers arrested after 'much loved' swan is stolen and eaten".
Probably make an excellent proper film.
I'd gladly pay to see "I was a Teenage Ravenous Swan Murderer" in IMAX.
I still can’t believe that actually happened. I remember that headline.
After reading your comment, I went to read about this and this story is WILD, wtf is it with people?
I run escape rooms in Bellingham, WA, and our rooms are never locked - we tell guests that they're free to leave at any time, but that their time will not stop once it begins (so guests can take calls, quit, use the restroom, etc. if needed). I always make sure to specify that in the event of an emergency, the guests should absolutely leave and that they can always expect a reschedule or refund. It's very interesting to learn a little more background about how these rooms came to be, and that the original IRL escape room is younger than I am!
The win condition thing mentioned in the video is also accurate - we have one game with a second locked door to a "stage" for a rock band-themed room, but in our other rooms the players must simply complete an objective (IE pulling a lever locked behind a small door built into the wall to shut an AI down, solving a murder mystery, or successfully bringing a spaceship to a new planet without dying to a number of potential hazards).
If you're thinking of playing an escape room, I absolutely encourage it, but always make sure you do your research and check the reviews first to make sure the owners are competent. Many are puzzle enthusiasts who are doing something they love, but some of our rival businesses certainly have some... lets just say, lower standards. Absolutely worth it for birthday parties, team-building exercises, wedding events, and so forth (as long as the majority of the group actually wants to do puzzles, of course - I've seen many people drag uninterested people into rooms with them and that just leads to bad experiences and wasted money)!
Fire can so easily make an otherwise safe situation or place, instantly deadly...
😢I can’t imagine how scared they must have been. I’ve been in escape rooms and it’s frustrating when you can’t figure out how to get out but it’s never been “real”. I’m glad changes were made but I’m sad there had to be a loss of 5 lives for those changes to be made.
Every media in Poland was talking about it when it happend. I still think about those girls from time to time, I can't believe it's been so long ago and I never expected to find a video about it on a random day.
I love that everyone collectively learned from the mistake instead of brushing it under the rug
The industry as a whole has always been very conscientious of safety, and as stated in the video we were basically anticipating with dread an accident like this one from more unscrupulous owners who saw $$$ and didn’t care enough to build for safety. Particularly in the early days we were all kind of on eggshells because governments/insurance/fire departments didn’t know how to classify us, so the concern was that one incident would lead to a massive overbearing government response as they react to the tragedy without becoming informed on our industry.
I don't think regulations specific to escape rooms is required. As you said, current regulations already required fire exits. This was essentially an illegal business and sadly resulted in these young women's deaths.
How long until we get The 2023 Titan Submersible Disaster? As soon as I heard about the debris field and conclusion that the vessel had catastrophically imploded, I imagined the theme music to your videos and your voice narrating the events. I WANT IT NOW
I don't know what goes on in Europe, but in America there MUST be an unlocked exit that can be accessed at any point, strictly for safety reasons. I've participated in several escape rooms, and they are really fun.
The building had once been a residential property. Generally fire codes for residential are more strict than those for commercial uses. And, as stated, the conversion of use should have triggered an inspection. It shows how poorly the whole property was set up.
I remeber that accident and share panic in the other polish escape-games and amusement parks it caused. I was traumatised how many of them didn’t have any fire-proofing or escape roots and suddenly wanted to fix that becore inspections.
This is so absolutely heartbreaking. I can't even imagine how horrible that must've been. It was supposed to be a celebration 😭
I hope you do a video on the Titan sub/Titanic incident.
thats just sad.
in most of these stories there is some laziness or greed or preventable stupidity..
this was just an unfortunate event..
what a shame those young lives lost.
youre delivery was spot on as always respectful and factual without sensation.
Trust me, this was 100% laziness/greed/preventable stupidity. Escape room owners have a responsibility to design safe games and we have known that since the beginning. It’s not even difficult to do, so there’s really no excuse.
And my ex used to make fun of my phobia of Escape Rooms. 🙄 I hope those kids are resting peacefully and their memories are a blessing. 😞
Thank you for this video. I was unaware of this tragedy and it's disturbing how it was handled.
I went to my first escape room ever about three days ago, but thank you for unlocking a new fear
I play all your videos, but I don't think I've ever clicked on one so quickly. What a title!! Having been a viewer of this channel for a bit now, I'm sure it's aptly named. I can't wait!! Thank you in advance; I know I'm going to LOVE it!!
This is why most modern escape rooms that use electronic locks have fire catches on them, usually tripped by either a central detector detecting fire, or by an individual unit tripping due to smoke. It's the SAME technology used in most fire detectors
I've done a few escape rooms and I always make note of when the staff clearly points out a 'escape button' for emergencies or even in the case someone has a claustrophobia anxiety attack
Another fascinating and informative case. Ive not been a fan of escape rooms for this very reason, the possibility of hindered egress should the staff be incapacitated or unable to be communicated with in an emergency. Ive already had too many extremely close calls and don't voluntarily put myself in a situation that's out of my control
Thank you for featuring this relatively unknown Polish case! It happened when Poland experienced kind of a boom in escape room popularity - they were popping up everywhere, and the quality of this experience varied from place to place. There were virtually no laws that regulated their existence, because everything was so new and government officials were unsure what to demand from places like that. This escape room was in a relatively small town, and as far as I remember, hosted in a private house so it had even bigger chance to fall through cracks with dangerous practices. After the tragedy many perfectly good escape rooms were shut down - even if government didn't forced the shutdown, private owners didn't want to rent properties to those kind of establishments.
I'm not sure lighting candles would feel entirely appropriate. 😢 In any case, what an avoidable tragedy
Yeah, I thought that, too. Most unfortunate.
After how much of this channel I've watched, my mind instantly constructed a scenario where all those candles together immediately started another fire.
Znicze (the type of candle you light on a gravestone) are a traditional way of remembering the dead in Poland. No one here (in Koszalin I mean, but i'm pretty sure it's general with any fire victims) makes any grusome associations between these remembrance lights and the circumstance of death. Tbh your comment showed me how much of an emotional attachement the candles have here as grief helping measure because I got borderline insulted that someone would make such a connection...
Nearly all candles I've seen are now fake LED candles. Not only are real candles dangerous, they're incredibly inefficient. They generate as much heat (burn as much energy) as a 80 W incandescent light bulb. But put out less light than a 1 Watt incandescent bulb (about as much light as a 0.1 W LED).
LOL
Good god, those poor kids. I feel bad for the staff member too; I can't imagine seeing that and not being able to help. And that dad who heard his kid say "help" over the phone just before the smoke got to them...god. What a senseless tragedy.
Supposedly the staff member injured was also arrested.
@@cardinaloflannagancr8929 Yeah, I caught that! I wonder if he was charged with anything or did time.
I played an escape game way before the 2010s. There was a place in Old Montreal by the pier that was a huge shipping warehouse, the upper floor was converted into an escape building i guess. It took more than an hour to go through, you had to solve a bunch of different puzzles to escape. There was actually a midpoint where you could sit down and rest and also leave if you didn't feel like continuing. I'm not sure if it's still there, but this was before 2004, for sure.
I went there too!
Have you noticed this strange coincidence with the "Escape Room" movie being out on 4th of January, same as the tragedy in Koszalin? I thought it was just the same day of the year, but it was in fact exactly the same day, both in 2019! Wow.
I have recently been to an escape room and we got safety instructions and were shown the emergency exists. Our actions were observed by staff all the time. It felt safe.
To me the most frustrating thing about this kind of accident is, since the whole "escape room" thing is make-believe anyway, there's no earthly reason for the doors to be _really locked_ in the first place. Hell, the _walls_ don't even have to be real, at least the interior ones. They might as well be paper printed to _look_ like real walls, so that in the event of an emergency, the customers can just Kool-Aid Man their way to safety.
Oh gods. I went to an escape room with my friends and my band director (it was a trip for honour band) and my first question was "where are the exits if there's a fire?" If i remember correctly there was just the unlocked door that led to the waiting room, which thinking back isn't quite the safest in a scenario like this-
Breaks my heart, Great job making these keep it up!
Whenever I watch one of these I give myself a moment to be empathetic towards those lost and their families.
My blurry eyes lasted a little longer thinking of the father whose daughter called him.
Im sorry that one staff member knew they were trapped they needed to get that door opened no matter what even to their own peril
Finally something from my country! Perhaps you could do a video about the 2006 pigeon exibition roof collapse?
In Katowice? Someone has covered that.
@@LMB222 on english youtube?
suspicious amount of pigeons survived...
@@mslo7312 brick immortar i belive
Earliest I’ve ever been to one of these videos. Fantastic, professional job as always
Please make a video on the 2023 Titanic submersible implosion
A theme in these videos is the fire knocks out the alarm system or prevents staff from using the alarm system or radio, often right at the start.
The fatal problem here was making a house into a business without making the necessary measures of safety. Glad the guy was punished.