Russian nightclub fire kills at least 106
MOSCOW, Russia
Many victims died in a panicked crush for the single exit as
they attempted to escape the flames and thick black smoke,
witnesses said.
Hundreds of people had gathered at the Lame Horse nightclub
Friday night to celebrate the anniversary of the popular
establishment's opening in the industrial city of Perm in the Ural
Mountains.
Video recorded by a clubgoer and shown on Russian television
showed partygoers dancing, before sparks from pyrotechnic fountains
on stage ignited the club's ceiling around midnight. Witness
Svetlana Kuvshinova told The Associated Press that the blaze
swiftly consumed twigs decorating the ceiling. Russian clubs and
restaurants often cover ceilings with plastic insulation and a
layer of willow twigs to create a rustic look.
"The fire took seconds to spread," Kuvshinova said. "It was
like a dry haystack. There was only one way out. They nearly
stampeded me."
Leonid Miroshnichenko, who lost his daughter in the fire, said
that the plastic ceiling contributed to the death toll. "I would
like to see the official who allowed this club to open. It was he
who killed my daughter," he said.
The footage showed the fire spreading through what appeared to
be willow twigs as a host shouted without urgency: "Ladies and
gentlemen, guests of the club, we are on fire. Please leave the
hall."
The video showed people reluctantly heading toward the exit,
some of them turning back to look at the burning ceiling. Within
seconds they started rushing away in panic as flames begin to
spread faster.
"There was only one exit, and people starting breaking down the
doors to get out," said a woman who identified herself only as
Olga, smeared with soot and wearing a filthy fur coat. "They were
breaking the door and panic set in. Everything was in smoke. I
couldn't see anything."
A nightclub fire in the U.S. state of Rhode Island in 2003
killed 100 people after pyrotechnics used as a stage prop by the
1980s rock band Great White set ablaze cheap soundproofing foam on
the walls and ceiling.
Russian officials said club managers had ignored repeated
demands from authorities to change the interior to comply with fire
safety standards. Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu told
President Dmitry Medvedev by videoconference from Perm that the
club managers violated the law by running the fireworks display
that triggered the fire.
"The fire started in the ceiling and spread very quickly,
lights went out and there was a panic and stampede," Shoigu said.
He added the club managers had been fined twice in the past for
breaking fire safety regulations and were to report on fixing the
flaws next Monday.
"They have neither brains, nor conscience," Medvedev said,
urging the toughest possible punishment. He declared a national day
of mourning Monday.
Authorities said they arrested the registered co-owner of the
club, its managing director and three other suspects. One other
suspect was injured in the fire and remains in critical condition.
Russia has been on edge since last week's bombing of the
high-speed Nevsky Express passenger train midway between Moscow and
St. Petersburg, in which 27 people died in the first deadly
terrorist attack outside Russia's restive Caucasus republics since
2004. Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the blast.
"We are deeply saddened to learn of yet another tragedy
striking Russia in the city of Perm," said the White House's
National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer. "Coming on the
heels of the recent attack on the Moscow-St.Petersburg train, this
significant loss of life and multiple casualties are especially
painful."
Officials said nearly 90 of the more than 130 people injured in
the fire had severe burns and remained in critical condition. Many
of the injured were flown to Moscow's top emergency hospitals.
Firefighters were on the scene in downtown Perm one minute after
the alarm was called in, the Emergency Situations Ministry said,
and they took less than an hour to put the fire out. Most of the
dead suffocated or were crushed at the exit, officials said.
Many relatives waited for hours at the Perm morgue, not knowing
whether their relatives were dead or alive.
"I'm simply devastated, I can't believe it's happening to me,"
said Yevgeny Porfiryev, his eyes red from tears after he found his
26-year-old son Timur among the dead.
Enforcement of fire safety standards is notoriously lax in
Russia and there have been several catastrophic blazes at
drug-treatment facilities, nursing homes, apartment buildings and
nightclubs in recent years.
Russia records up to 18,000 fire deaths a year, several times
the per-capita rate in the United States and other Western
countries. Nightclub fires have killed thousands of people
worldwide.
Medvedev, who summoned top officials to report on the fire and
rescue efforts, urged changes in the law to toughen punishment for
violation of fire safety standards.
Emergency Situations Ministry officials called the fire the
worst in the nation's post-Soviet history. The previous most deadly
blaze killed 63 people at a nursing home in southern Russia in
March 2007.