Emir Omar Chabán (31 March 1952 – 17 November 2014) was an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

, who was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment for a fatal fire in one of his businesses. He remained free on appeal, during which time he died. Born in

San Martín, Buenos Aires Ciudad del Libertador General Don José de San Martín, more commonly known as San Martín, is the administrative seat of General San Martín Partido in the urban agglomeration of Greater Buenos Aires. Geography The area is heavily urbanised and ...

, Chabán became one of the major figures in the

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

underground scene during the 1980s as owner of Café Einstein and later Cemento, which became a major venue for alternative

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

concerts, theater acts, and dance parties.Murió Omar Chabán
accessed 21 November 2014, On 30 December 2004, a fire killed 194 and injured over 600 in Republica Cromagnon, a concert venue that Chabán owned and operated. He was indicted as responsible; the musical act on that evening, The ''

Callejeros Callejeros (streetwise or stray dogs) was an Argentine rock band that gained international notoriety when the nightclub where they were playing, República Cromañon, was set on fire during one of its shows, killing 194 attendees, in 2004. Hi ...

'', had encouraged spectators to light sparklers in the concert hall, even though the ceiling included flammable materials, and once the fire started, fire exits were padlocked and did not open, trapping the people inside fatally. Chabán escaped capture for some time, and then surrendered. After spending some time behind bars, the judge allowed him to post

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

. After relatives of the victims protested in front of his mother's house in San Martín, Chabán moved to a secluded location on the

Paraná delta The Paraná Delta ( es, Delta del Paraná) is the delta of the Paraná River in Argentina and it consists of several islands known as the Islas del Paraná. The Paraná flows north–south and becomes an alluvial basin (a flood plain) between th ...

area. Trials of various people connected with the fire, including Chabán, commenced in August 2008. On 19 August 2009, Chaban was sentenced to 20 years in prison."Chabán sentenced to 20 years in Cromañón trial but Callejeros acquitted"
''

Buenos Aires Herald The ''Buenos Aires Herald'' was an English language daily newspaper published in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 1876 to 2017. Its slogan was ''A World of Information in a few words''. History Under the original name of ''The Buenos Ayres Herald'', ...

''; accessed 21 November 2014. Omar Chabán died on 17 November 2014, aged 62, from

Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...

.Death of Omar Chabán
lanacion.com.ar; accessed 21 November 2014.

References

Nightclub owners 1952 births 2014 deaths People from San Martín, Buenos Aires Argentine businesspeople Argentine Muslims Argentine people of Syrian descent Argentine artists Prisoners and detainees of Argentina Deaths from Hodgkin lymphoma Deaths from cancer in Argentina {{Argentina-business-bio-stub