Moscow, December 5
A massive blast triggered by fireworks display caused a stampede in a packed Russian nightclub in the Ural mountain city of Perm, killing at least 109 and wounding 130 others on Saturday. Unofficial figures put the toll at 113. Local radio stations, quoting officials, said it could climb further as 88 of the injured were in critical condition.
Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev told President Dmitry Medvedev that the initial probe had ruled out any evidence of a terrorist act. More than 200 people were packed for a weekend revelry in the club around midnight when the mishap took place. These comprised mostly employees and their families, who were partying to celebrate the highly popular nightclub's 10th anniversary, ITAR-TASS reported.
The tragedy happened when the organisers of the party put up a fireworks display inside the nightclub, as embers caused flames which swept through the club as people scrambled for safety.
“The majority of the deaths were the result of burns or gas inhalation,” state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia’s top investigative body, adding “Along with this, there was a crush at the exit.”
Medvedev declared a state of mourning on Monday in his televised address where he called for stringent action against the culprits.
However, it was not yet clear whether the gala closing of the ‘Year of India’ on Monday in the state-owned Bolshoi Theatre by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be held as per schedule.
The presidential announcement said the flags throughout the country would fly at half-mast and all entertainment programmes in theatres would be cancelled.
Singh is arriving here tomorrow on a three-day visit and is scheduled to hold talks with President Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday and was to formally close the ‘Year of India’ fest in Russia.
FSB security service experts ruled out possibility of a terrorist act as no traces of explosives were found in the Lame Horse club, RIA Novosti reported.
“There is no chance it was a terrorist act, I can say that 100 per cent,” the investigative committee’s spokesman Markin said, adding “The accident was due to a violation of instructions when launching fireworks”.
The video footage captured by some visitors on their mobile phones shows the straw and plastic ceiling catching fire.
The authorities have detained two partners and managers of the nightclub, who were trying to flee the city. The club burnt out almost completely with fire spreading to the area of 400 square metres.
Russia records nearly 18,000 fire deaths a year, including those in nightclubs. In February 2008, a fire in the Golden
Rock nightclub in the Siberian city of Omsk had killed four people. In March 2007, 10 persons died in an accident during a so-called “fire show” at a Moscow club.
— PTI
