The Russian city of Kostroma saw a nightclub fire on Saturday that left 15 people dead and five more injured, according to local police.
Authorities claim that someone used a flare pistol during a fight and that this caused the fire to start early in the morning.
250 people were successfully evacuated by rescuers. Sergei Sitnikov, the region’s governor, reported that five persons who had minor injuries sought medical attention.
The Polygon, a multipurpose entertainment area that serves as a bar, nightclub, and cafe, caught fire.
During the fire, the nightclub’s roof fell.
Police are looking for the owner of the flare pistol and have opened a criminal inquiry.
A riverbank city of 270,000 people, Kostroma is about 210 miles north of Moscow.
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 after someone fired off fireworks killed more than 150 people.
