PERM – Flags flew at half mast and entertainment programmes were cancelled across Russia yesterday as the country mourned 113 victims of a weekend nightclub inferno caused by sparks from a fireworks show.
Dozens more fought for their lives in hospitals. Doctors said many had burns over more than 50 per cent of their bodies and some were being kept alive by respirators.
Mourners heaped red and white flowers outside the snow-covered entrance to the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, 1,150 km (720 miles) east of Moscow. Some said corruption had allowed it to ignore fire safety rules for years.
“There is a pain in my soul for the children,” said Natalya Glotova (55), who braved temperatures of minus 20 Celsius to lay carnations on the steps.
“They died in such a terrible, grotesque way.”
President Dmitry Medvedev declared yesterday a national day of mourning and has urged harsh punishments for those responsible.
Police have arrested the owner and two managers at the club on charges of manslaughter and breaches of fire safety. Charges have also been brought against the man who organised the fireworks, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Most of the victims were in their 20s and 30s. Framed photos of young women illuminated by candles were left in makeshift tributes outside the nightclub.
More than 15,000 people die each year in fires across Russia and senior officials acknowledge that fire inspections are routinely used as a way to demand bribes from establishments, rather than enforce safety rules.
Medvedev has called for a crusade against corruption but his appeals have so far had little practical effect.
A defence ministry spokesman confirmed that the building housing the club was owned by Russia’s military. – (Reuters)