Lame Horse fire
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (December 2009) |
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| Date | December 5, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Time | Variously reported as: 11:15[1]/01:08[2]/01:10[3]/01:30[4] (all times YEKT) |
| Location | Leninsky City District, Perm, Perm Krai, Russia |
| Casualties | |
| 111 or 110 People killed[5] by asphyxiation, burns and stampede | |
The Perm Lame Horse club fire was a firework blaze that went off in the Khromaya Loshad (Russian: Хромая лошадь, meaning the "Lame Horse") nightclub on Kuybysheva Street no.9 in Perm, Russia on December 4, 2009.
The fire killed more than 100 people, and injured 160 others attending the nightclub, which was celebrating its eighth anniversary on the day.[6][7][8]
The fire
According to witnesses, an accident involving a "cold" fireworks exhibition, designed for indoor use, occurred during the eighth anniversary celebrations.[9]
One of the fireworks, tossed into the air and intended to be caught, hit the plastic covering of the ceiling, igniting the explosive. The decorative woven twigs affixed to the walls and ceiling also caught fire, filling the building with smoke.
Panic gave way to a stampede when many patrons found themselves cut off from one public exit, management having sealed off other doors and the public unaware of emergency exits behind the stage.
Response
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin dispatched two planes to the area, equipped to medically transport burn trauma victims. President Dmitry Medvedev sent many high-level government officials to Perm to aid the victims, manage the incident, and start the criminal investigation,[10] commenting that those who started the blaze "have neither brains, nor conscience".[11] Medvedev has declared December 7, 2009 a national mourning day.[10]
An Ilyushin Il-76 transported 20 of the most critically-injured victims to hospitals in Moscow, medical workers expecting to receive many more such patients.[12]
In Perm, a hotline has been established for residents seeking information about anyone they know who may be injured or deceased.[12]
Aftermath
There were several rumors that the explosion was a terrorist plot, but the Russian Prosecutor's Investigative Committee spokesman, Vladimir Markin, declared that the fire was caused by an unsanctioned use of outdoor fireworks.[12][13] The fire is the deadliest in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The previously highest toll for a fire was in a March 2007 blaze in a Krasnodar nursing home that killed 63. There have been several other deadly fires in Russian public places in recent years, a fact that has been attributed to the generally lax enforcement of fire safety regulations.[14]
The incident had some similarities to the 2003 Station fire in the U.S. state of Rhode Island, also was started by the detonation of fireworks inside the club and claimed a hundred lives.[15]
An emergency services spokesman stated most victims died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning.[16]
References
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/06/russia
- ^ http://www.newsru.com/russia/05dec2009/shoygu.html
- ^ http://infox.ru/accident/incident/2009/12/05/Pozhar_v___Hromoy_lo.phtml
- ^ http://www.baltinfo.ru/news/V-Permskom-krae-obyavleny-dni-traura-po-pogibshim-pri-pozhare-v-kafe-118656
- ^ http://finam.fm/news/41001/
- ^ "BBC News – Explosion in Russian nightclub 'kills scores'". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
- ^ "Russia: Explosion In Nightclub In Perm Kills 100 People, Reports Say". news.sky.com. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
{{cite news}}: Text "Sky News" ignored (help); Text "World News" ignored (help) - ^ "Perm, Russia Nightclub Explosion Kills More Than 100: Reports". www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
- ^ Template:Ru icon "Трагедия в Перми: более ста человек погибли при пожаре в ночном клубе". RIA Novosti. 2009-12-05. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
- ^ a b Дмитрий Медведев объявил 7 декабря в России днем траура в связи с пожаром в Перми//Русская служба новостей, 05.12.2009, 13:15
- ^ "Russian president says nightclub blaze is criminal act". BBC. Retrieved 05 December 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ a b c "Число погибших в ночном клубе в Перми превысило 100 человек". Lenta.ru (in Russian). Rambler Media Group. 5 December, 2009. Retrieved 5 December, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ "Investigators rule out terrorist attack on Urals cafe". RIA Novosti. 2009-12-05. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
- ^ Voutsen, Anna (06 December 2009). "Blazing night club that claimed 109 lives had failed safety rules". The Times. Retrieved 06 December 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Levy, Clifford (December 6, 2009). "Tolls Stirs Anger in Russian Nightclub Fire". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
The Perm fire seemed to be similar to one that occurred in Rhode Island in 2003 when pyrotechnics at a rock concert touched off a blaze that killed 100 people.
- ^ Explosion in Russian nightclub 'kills scores', BBC News, 4 December 2009