It was past four-thirty in the morning when Sergeant Müller finally managed to get inside the Kiss nightclub. On the main dance floor, he counted at least 10 bodies, and another eight in the corridor. Despite the severity of the incident, he felt relieved by thinking that, among the 1,100 revelers in attendance that night — the club’s maximum capacity was 769 people — almost all of them escaped unharmed,
“Sergeant, come take a look at this,” said one firefighter, pointing toward the men’s and ladies’ bathrooms, located near the entrance to the club.
Müller followed his colleague and was...