Russian officials today said the death toll from a nightclub fire in the city of Perm had now risen to 121.

President Dmitry Medvedev demanded that Russia tighten its notoriously lax fire codes after the deadliest blaze since the Soviet era killed at least 107 people celebrating in a nightclub with a decorative twig ceiling and single exit.

Russia’s top investigative body said the number of people who died in a nightclub fire in the Urals city of Perm has risen to 109.

An explosion and fire apparently caused by pyrotechnics tore through a nightclub in the Russian city of Perm early today, killing 101 people, according to news reports.

An explosion apparently caused by pyrotechnics tore through a nightclub in the Russian city of Perm, killing more than 100 people, according to emergency officials quoted by state television.