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Twenty-seven people - mostly teenagers and young people - have been killed after fire broke out at a nightclub in Bucharest, officials say.

The blaze took hold at the Colectiv club on Friday night, causing a stampede for the exit, the BBC reported.

Emergency response chief Raed Arafat said 155 people were being treated in hospitals in the Romanian capital. The fire is believed to have been caused by fireworks that were let off inside the club.

"The only information we have is that fireworks were used in the club and after that the tragedy happened. Of course, this is under investigation," Mr Arafat told the BBC.

The pyrotechnics were reportedly part of a show by a heavy metal band.

Witnesses said a spark on the stage ignited some of the polystyrene decor. A pillar and the club's ceiling caught fire and there was an explosion and heavy smoke, they added.

"People were fainting, they were fainting from the smoke. It was total chaos, people were trampling on each other," Victor Ionescu, who was at the club, told local TV station Antena 3.

Up to 400 people may have been inside the club, which was hosting a free rock concert.