Reuters: Romania’s interior minister resigned on Tuesday (July 30) after the murders of two teenage girls in the southern town of Caracal triggered protests over authorities’ inadequate handling of the case.

His announcement came a day after dozens of teenagers marched in Caracal carrying banners which read: “Hello, 112, I’m Alexandra and I want to live,” “Romania has failed in Caracal,” “She put all her trust in you when she called.”

A 65-year old mechanic from Caracal has confessed to killing Alexandra Macesanu, 15, who was reported missing on July 24, and Luiza Melencu, 18, who was last seen in April.

After Macesanu phoned the European emergency number 112 saying she had been kidnapped, it took authorities 19 hours to locate and enter the mechanic’s residence as they struggled to trace her three calls and secure unnecessary search warrants. Police also delayed registering a missing report filed by her parents.

Also speaking on Tuesday (July 30), Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis said an inquiry presented at a Supreme Defence Council meeting on Tuesday identified a series of “grave deficiencies.”

Inquiries have shown politicized public safety bodies to be under-funded, short-staffed and insufficiently trained. Romania’s chief of police and several county officials have already been fired over the case.

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