112 killed in Russian nightclub blast, fire

At least 112 people were killed and 134 injured, most of them seriously, when a massive explosion and blaze caused by fireworks ripped through a packed nightclub in the Russian city of Perm in the Ural mountain region early on Saturday.

FSB security service experts have ruled out possibility of a terrorist act as no traces of explosives were found in the Lame Horse club, where over 220 people were present during the accident, RIA Novosti reported.

"There is no chance it was a terrorist act, I can say that 100 per cent," the investigative committee's spokesman Vladimir Markin said.

The incident left 112 people dead and another 134 injured of which 85 are in critical condition suffering from severe inhalation burns and carbon monoxide poisoning, state-run Vesti news channel said. A total of 61 people are on a life support breathing machine.

The accident occurred when the restaurant was packed with people, mostly its employees and their families, who were partying to celebrate the highly popular nightclub's 10th anniversary, ITAR-TASS reported quoting local police.

"The accident was due to a violation of instructions when launching fireworks," Markin said.

"The majority of the deaths were the result of burns or gas inhalation," RIA Novosti quoted Markin as saying. "Along with this, there was a crush at the exit" as panicked crowd scrambled hard to escape, he said.

The club burnt out almost completely with fire spreading to the area of 400 square metres.

Regional Security Minister Igor Orlov said the restaurant had a suspended plastic ceiling that caught fire quickly.

"There were fireworks launched at the scene, and one hit the plastic ceiling, setting all ablaze. People panicked and succumbed to burns, general crush and gas poisoning," Orlov was quoted by ITAR-TASS as saying.

Two emergencies ministry plane with rescuers and doctors trained to transport people with severe burns have been sent to Perm, a city of around one million people, which is about 1,200 km east of Moscow in the Ural Mountains.

Russia's Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu along with Health and Social Development Minister Tatiana Golikova and Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev have rushed to Perm on the order of President Dmitry Medvedev, who was informed of the tragedy in wee hours on Saturday.

Russia records nearly 18,000 fire deaths a year, including those in nightclubs.

In February 2008, a fire in the Golden Rock nightclub in the Siberian city of Omsk had killed four people. In March 2007, ten people had died in an accident during a so-called "fire show" at a Moscow club.