Russia mourns victims of Perm tragedy

Perm, Russia: Flags flew at half mast and entertainment programmes were cancelled across Russia on Monday as the country mourned 112 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 scene of the disaster at the Lame Horse club in the Urals city of Perm, 720 miles 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 Saturday's blaze. Police arrested the owner and two managers at the club on charges of manslaughter and breaches of fire safety.

Injured moved to Moscow

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited some of the 121 people injured in the fire 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 per cent 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 party-goers rushed out.