On Saturday (local time), a fire in a sizable cafe in the Russian city of Kostroma claimed the lives of 13 people and injured five more, according to local police.
13 persons perished in the fire, according to Sergei Sitnikov, the governor of the Kostroma region, while five more suffered minor injuries. 340 kilometres to the north of Moscow is the 270,000-person riverfront city of Kostroma.
The blaze erupted in the early hours after someone apparently used a flare gun, according to the authorities.
A altercation broke out in the cafe just before the fire, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, but it wasn’t immediately apparent whether it was related to the flare gun.
The director of the cafe was also being held, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee, which looks into big crimes. A suspect was apprehended for reportedly firing the flare pistol.
250 people were successfully evacuated by rescuers.
The cafe’s roof collapsed due to the fire, which consumed 3500 square metres of space.
Twelve residents of adjoining residential structures were evacuated as a precaution after five hours of firefighting efforts.
Ikhtiyar Mirzoyev, a member of the regional legislature and owner of the cafe, promised assistance to those affected by the fire.
In Russia, pyrotechnics have started fatal fires at entertainment venues before.
In 2009, a fire at the Lame Horse nightclub in the city of Perm that broke out when a musician let off explosives killed more than 150 people.
Russian cafe fire north of Moscow leaves 13 dead and 5 injured.
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