Officials: death toll in Russian nightclub fire reaches 112

Russian nightclub fire death toll reaches 112

PERM, Russia — Russian emergency officials say the number of people killed by a nightclub fire in the Urals city of Perm has risen to 112.

Emergency Ministry spokeswoman Darya Kochneva said Sunday the latest victim was a man who died of severe burns in a Moscow hospital where he was flown for treatment after the fire.

Onstage fireworks set the decorative twig ceiling of the Lame Horse nightclub ablaze soon after midnight Saturday, killing 98 on the spot.

Many victims were trapped in a panicked crush for the exit as they attempted to escape through the building’s single exit.

Some 130 were hospitalized, and many remain in critical condition.

Enforcement of fire safety standards is infamously poor in Russia, and up to 18,000 fire deaths are recorded here annually.