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Dozens killed in Russian nightclub fire
Fireworks reportedly started blaze along plastic ceiling; stampede followed
msnbc.com news services
updated 1 hour, 30 minutes ago
An explosion and fire apparently caused by pyrotechnics tore through a nightclub in the Russian city of Perm early Saturday, killing 101 people, according to news reports.
Regional security minister Igor Orlov said the club had a suspended plastic ceiling that caught fire quickly when ignited by so-called "cold fireworks," which generally are fountain-type displays with lower temperatures than conventional fireworks, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
"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 investigate body, as saying "Along with this, there was a crush at the exit."
State television showed charred bodies lying in rows outside the club amid a light snowfall.
Markin said most of the victims were young people, and that there was no suspicion of a terrorist attack.
No 'terrorist attack'
Russia has been on edge since last week's bombing of the prestigious Nevsky Express passenger train midway between Moscow and St. Petersburg, which killed 27 people. It was the first fatal terrorist attack outside Russia's restive Caucasus republics since 2004.
Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the bombing.
That blast stoked fears that Russia could face a nationwide bombing campaign, but Russian officials played down any links between the train attack and Friday's nightclub disaster.
"We are not talking about a terrorist attack," Oleg Chirkunov, the governor of Perm region, told Vesti-24.
Detectives said they did not suspect a bomb attack.
"We are not talking about a terrorist attack; we are talking about a failure to observe fire regulations," the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted a spokesman for a prosecutor's office as saying.
State television news channel Vesti cited the regional branch of Emergencies as saying the toll was 101 dead and 160 injured. Other reports put the number of dead in the high 90s.
Blood-covered women in evening clothes were shown lying on stretchers as scores of policemen swarmed around. At least 200 people were dining in the club.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the formation of a government commission to deal with the incident.
Perm, a city of around 1 million people, is about 700 miles (1,200 kilometers) east of Moscow in the Ural Mountains.
18,000 fire deaths a year
Enforcement of fire safety standards in Russia is notoriously lax and in recent years there have been several catastrophic blazes at drug-treatment facilities and apartment buildings.
Russia records nearly 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.
Ten people died when a so-called "fire show" went out of control at a Moscow club in March 2007.
In February 2008, a fire in the Golden Rock nightclub in the Siberian city of Omsk killed four people. Officials said the blast might have been caused by natural gas.
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.
<SOURCE OF THIS STORY>
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34280116/ns/world_news-europe
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Things to know when traveling abroad...many night clubs are very, very unsafe and with the added feature of pyrotechnic displays, make sure that you know the safest/quickest way out! This happening so closely to the bombing...I'm sure that was an added thought to the crowds reaction to getting the hell out! How horrible sad.
BTW...I would have placed this in WORLD NEWS...but I'm STILL UNABLE TO POST A TOPIC UP THERE
Fireworks reportedly started blaze along plastic ceiling; stampede followed
msnbc.com news services
updated 1 hour, 30 minutes ago
An explosion and fire apparently caused by pyrotechnics tore through a nightclub in the Russian city of Perm early Saturday, killing 101 people, according to news reports.
Regional security minister Igor Orlov said the club had a suspended plastic ceiling that caught fire quickly when ignited by so-called "cold fireworks," which generally are fountain-type displays with lower temperatures than conventional fireworks, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
"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 investigate body, as saying "Along with this, there was a crush at the exit."
State television showed charred bodies lying in rows outside the club amid a light snowfall.
Markin said most of the victims were young people, and that there was no suspicion of a terrorist attack.
No 'terrorist attack'
Russia has been on edge since last week's bombing of the prestigious Nevsky Express passenger train midway between Moscow and St. Petersburg, which killed 27 people. It was the first fatal terrorist attack outside Russia's restive Caucasus republics since 2004.
Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the bombing.
That blast stoked fears that Russia could face a nationwide bombing campaign, but Russian officials played down any links between the train attack and Friday's nightclub disaster.
"We are not talking about a terrorist attack," Oleg Chirkunov, the governor of Perm region, told Vesti-24.
Detectives said they did not suspect a bomb attack.
"We are not talking about a terrorist attack; we are talking about a failure to observe fire regulations," the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted a spokesman for a prosecutor's office as saying.
State television news channel Vesti cited the regional branch of Emergencies as saying the toll was 101 dead and 160 injured. Other reports put the number of dead in the high 90s.
Blood-covered women in evening clothes were shown lying on stretchers as scores of policemen swarmed around. At least 200 people were dining in the club.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the formation of a government commission to deal with the incident.
Perm, a city of around 1 million people, is about 700 miles (1,200 kilometers) east of Moscow in the Ural Mountains.
18,000 fire deaths a year
Enforcement of fire safety standards in Russia is notoriously lax and in recent years there have been several catastrophic blazes at drug-treatment facilities and apartment buildings.
Russia records nearly 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.
Ten people died when a so-called "fire show" went out of control at a Moscow club in March 2007.
In February 2008, a fire in the Golden Rock nightclub in the Siberian city of Omsk killed four people. Officials said the blast might have been caused by natural gas.
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.
<SOURCE OF THIS STORY>
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34280116/ns/world_news-europe
*************************************
Things to know when traveling abroad...many night clubs are very, very unsafe and with the added feature of pyrotechnic displays, make sure that you know the safest/quickest way out! This happening so closely to the bombing...I'm sure that was an added thought to the crowds reaction to getting the hell out! How horrible sad.
BTW...I would have placed this in WORLD NEWS...but I'm STILL UNABLE TO POST A TOPIC UP THERE
