PERM, Russia, Dec 5 (Reuters) - A blaze sparked by an indoor firework show ripped through a crowded Russian nightclub, killing at least 102 and injuring 134 as revellers stampeded for the exits, the Emergencies Ministry said.
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| A TV grab showing firefighters evacuating a person. AFP |
The firework show went disastrously wrong at about 11:15 p.m. (2015 GMT) on Friday, filling the Lame Horse nightclub in the city of Perm, 1,150 km (720 miles) east of Moscow, with toxic smoke and sowing panic among clubbers.
“We have registered 102 dead and 134 injured,” Igor Orlov, security minister of the Perm Region, told Russia's Vesti-24 television on Saturday. Seventy-nine are in a serious condition.Perm Emergencies Minister Oleg Popov said 21 people were in a critical condition, having suffered from smoke intoxication, head injuries and inhalation burns. Russian television said the first group of the injured had been sent to Moscow by plane.
A Reuters witness said dozens of charred bodies were piled on the pavement outside the club as medics moved the injured into ambulances. Blood-covered women in evening clothes lay on stretchers as scores of policemen swarmed around. Video footage obtained by Reuters featured a merry crowd celebrating the club's eighth anniversary, with a show presenter announcing all of a sudden: “Ladies and gentlemen, we are on fire. Leave the hall. Line up in a queue (to exit).”
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