The premises had been rented for the night by an organization catering to the Macedonian community in Gothenburg for the purpose of hosting a discothèque.

The fire started on the premises of the Macedonian organization on the third floor, where a discothèque for secondary school students had been arranged to celebrate Halloween.

At 23:45 a so-called "major call-out" took place from a fire station on the island, and four minutes later the first rescue team arrived on the scene.

About 60 young people were rescued by firefighters with self-contained breathing apparatus, 40 of whom were led down the staircase and 20 carried out through the windows.

All four were charged and found guilty of aggravated arson, and the firestarter, Shoresh Kaveh, was sentenced by the district court in 2000 to eight years' imprisonment.

"[10] Professor Christian Diesen is of the opinion that it is possible that Mohammadyeh had "become involved in a sequence of events he had no control over and would have been judged differently if the fire had not had such devastating consequences.

"[12] The penalties may be regarded as mild by international comparison, but Swedish law at the time allowed those aged 18–20 to be sentenced to a maximum of 8 years of prison, which was given to the leader.

[4] On the tenth anniversary of the fire in 2008, a permanent memorial was unveiled, made out of polished granite with the name and age of each victim engraved in gold.