Six people died in a nightclub fire in northern Serbia. The three men and the three women perished while trying to get away from the fierce blaze that erupted at the club.

Flames engulfed the Contract club located in the northern city of Novi Sad during a live performance, at about at about 2 a.m. local time, and rapidly spread in the building that had about 300-350 club-goers crammed inside.

People rushed to the exit, resulting in dreadful panic and death of the six victims due to smoke inhalation, the Serbian police said. The police also mentioned that the dead were in the ages of 21 to 29 years old.

“One of them was just half-a-metre from an exit, he said. There must have been huge panic, they all rushed to get out,” Predrag Maric, a senior police official said.

Two others were also injured in the tragedy. Police said the victims have been identified and an investigation has been launched to identify the cause of the fire. However, they say the probable cause of fire could be electrical fault.

This is a great tragedy, he said. The wounds of past tragedies in Novi Sad have yet to heal, and now we have another,” Igor Pavlicic, Mayor of Novi Sad said, according to a BBC report.

The Serbian police has detained three people including the owner of the nightclub.