Israeli co-owner of club in which blast killed 117 Friday night to be charged along with three others.
Russia’s Prosecutor General filed Monday an indictment against four people suspected of causing a giant explosion that killed 117 people in a nightclub late Friday night. One of the suspects possesses an Israeli passport.
About 30 of the 120 hospitalized remain in critical condition after the blaze engulfed a nightclub in Perm, sparked by an indoor fireworks display. Four additional victims died Monday night.
Authorities in Russia say the fire was sparked by an electrical malfunction. The prosecution suspects negligence and has indicted the nightclub’s co-owner – the Israeli Anatoly Zak – its manager, entertainment director, and the head of a fireworks company whose show started the blaze.
A memorial ceremony was held Monday to commemorate the victims of the fire. President Dmitry Medvedev appeared angry with the club’s owners during a consultation on the incident, some of which was aired on national TV.
Medvedev said those responsible had “neither brain nor conscience”, and added that “we must think of a legislation that pertains to incidents of this kind, which must be tougher, and the responsibility for neglecting to follow fire codes must be heavier as well”.
Enforcement of fire-safety standards is infamously poor in Russia and there have been several catastrophic blazes at drug-treatment facilities, nursing homes, apartment buildings and nightclubs in recent years. In general around 18,000 people die annually in fires in the country.
Andrei Nikitin, a local journalist, told Ynet this week that owners of the club had received orders to fix certain failures within a year, but did not do so. A return inspection was scheduled to take place Monday.
Nikitin, who frequents the club, said renovations were done over the summer but that they did not improve safety conditions, and may have even worsened them. “The ceiling is made of plastic, fabric, straw, and wood,” he explained, all materials which cause a fire to spread rapidly.
It was also reported that the Israeli co-owner Anatoly Zak tried to escape to Israel.
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