Tuesday, December 08, 2009
FLAGS flew at half mast and entertainment programmes were cancelled across Russia yesterday as the country mourned 113 victims of a weekend nightclub inferno and dozens more fought for their lives in hospitals.
Mourners heaped red and white flowers in a long line outside the snow-covered entrance to the Lame Horse club in the Urals city of Perm, 1,150 km east of Moscow. Some said corruption had allowed the club to ignore fire safety rules for years.
President Dmitry Medvedev declared yesterday a national day of mourning and has called for harsh punishments for those responsible for last Friday’s blaze.
Police arrested the owner and two managers at the club on charges of manslaughter and breaches of fire safety.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited some of the 121 people injured who were airlifted to Moscow for treatment and said: "The main thing now is to save those who were injured. Many of them are in an extremely serious state."
Doctors said many of the injured had burns over more than 50% of their bodies and some were being kept alive by artificial respirators.
Prosecutors say the fire, Russia’s worst in decades, began when sparks from the fireworks ignited wicker coverings on the ceiling of the packed nightclub, provoking a stampede as partygoers rushed towards a single narrow exit.
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 in sub-zero temperatures.
"Searches are going on and documents are being seized after the court decided to order the arrest of four suspects," a spokeswoman for regional prosecutors said.
The number of casualties remained stable overnight and all the dead and injured have been identified.
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