Russia mourns as club inferno death toll rises

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.