Fire in the Lame Horse Club: the causes of the fire, the number of victims

The fire in Perm, in the club "Lame Horse", broke out on December 5, 2009. As a result of the tragedy, 156 people were killed. This was the largest fire in Russia in terms of the number of victims. In the world ranking of such incidents in nightclubs, this ignition was on the 9th place.

Description of night club

Night Club "Lame Horse" was in Perm. It was one of the most popular places of entertainment in the city. The club was located on the street. Kuibyshev, not far from the building of the Legislative Assembly. On the day when the fire occurred, the night entertainment facility celebrated its next anniversary.

In the "Lame Horse" there were only 50 places for visitors. But 282 people came to the celebration. Personnel from 40 people served the guests. It was planned to hold a colorful show with fireworks.

The beginning of the fire

The fire in the night club "Lame Horse" began at 23:08 Moscow time (01:08 in Perm). The decoration of the walls and ceilings of the "Lame Horse" consisted of willow twigs and canvases. Sparks from fireworks provoked fire. They hit the low ceiling. And thanks to the rapidly flammable material, the speed of fire spreading increased.

In addition to the canvas and rods, the ceiling of the "Lame Horse" was covered with foam plastic. Although by all the rules of fire safety it is prohibited. The use of pyrotechnics in such a room is the main cause of the fire in the club "Lame Horse". As soon as the fire came in contact with the foam, the release of toxic smoke containing hydrocyanic acid began.

Spread of fire

The fire in the night club "Lame Horse" spread instantly. Since the moment the first flames licked the ceiling, and before the club was filled with toxic smoke, it took only 50 seconds. Of course, it is very small to have time to evacuate visitors. But it was in this time interval that they could safely leave the building. However, they announced this not immediately. The host of the show spoke about the fire and asked everyone to leave the building only at the 14th second. Chronology of events will be later restored by investigators.

Of course, all the guests immediately rushed to the exit. The tragedy in the club "Lame Horse" could be less large-scale. But all the indices in the room for some reason led only to the main entrance, although there was also a black one. Only some employees of the institution could get through it.

Visitors were directed only to the main entrance. As a result, there was a big crush at the door. Though there were two of them, one of the shutters was closed for some reason. The guards managed to break one of the broken doors. But it helped a little. The light soon went out, and a human panic joined the crowd.

Many visitors were seriously poisoned by carbon monoxide. Part got serious burns. Visitors who managed to get out on the street themselves got frostbite of varying degrees. Since the frost was 16, people were without clothes. Many of the victims who were taken out of the Lame Horse were laid directly on the cold asphalt.

How did the security services act?

The fire in the night club "Lame Horse" (a photo of the tragedy can be seen in this article) began around one in the morning. The fire department received a fire report at 01:08 local time. A special service was informed by one of the victims. He ran to the fire department No. 110, which was located just a hundred meters from the club.

And at 01:10 a call arrived at the ambulance. On the scene immediately left the car. At 01:11 the firemen arrived at the Lame Horse. All fires have their own degree. The fire at the club "Lame Horse" was equated to the third category. Twenty firefighters were sent to the scene of the tragedy. The fire extinguishing had to be postponed until the visitors of the club were completely evacuated from the premises.

The first fire engine arrived at the building at 01:18. To provide medical assistance, brigades and equipment were not enough. Many of the victims had to lie on the frozen earth for over an hour, until they reached the turn.

The tragedy in the club "Lame Horse" showed that the special services were not prepared for this situation. Numerous witnesses of what happened later noticed that their work was inconsistent and very bad.

Many people could be saved if medical care was provided immediately. Instead, those rescued from the fire died outside the walls of the building from wounds, burns, shock and cold, while the doctors waited, lying on the frozen ground.

The ambulances drove up all the time. But the latter arrived at the scene only at 02:35. A total of 55 brigades arrived and 2 emergency response teams. Evacuate the victims from the building finished only at 5 o'clock in the morning. The fire in the club "Lame Horse" was extinguished, but the institution burned almost completely.

Only at 05:15 several aircraft with resuscitation equipment were sent to Perm, which is necessary for transporting people with serious burns. Many were taken to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Chelyabinsk hospitals.

Affected and killed in the club "Lame Horse"

Assistance was provided to 79 people affected by the fire. 111 people were killed. Many have passed away without waiting for medical care, being poisoned by carbon monoxide and toxic gas, having severe burns. In Perm hospitals, 142 victims were treated. Of these, only 22 have reached medical facilities on their own. Despite all the efforts of doctors, 45 people died in hospitals.

The number of victims in the club "Lame Horse", according to official figures, was 238 people. Of these, 96 were killed immediately at the scene, the rest - on the way to hospitals and directly to medical clinics. Only 82 people remained alive. Of these, 64 received injuries and burns of varying severity.

Trial

As soon as they finished putting out the fire at the Lame Horse club, a criminal case was immediately instituted. The prosecutor presented the prosecution to the following persons:

• Anatoly Zak (co-founder of a night club).
• Svetlana Efremova (Executive Director).
• Oleg Fetkulov (art director).
• Derbenev: father and son (suppliers of pyrotechnics).
• Vladimir Mukhutdinov (chief state inspector for fire control in the Perm region).
• Natalia Prokopieva and Dmitry Roslyakov (fire inspectors of state supervision).
• Konstantin Mrykhin (one of the founders of the "Lame Horse").

The investigation was completed only on July 4, 2010. Between June the same year and December 2012, 238 court hearings were scheduled. 111 of them were disrupted for various reasons. In 2012, Konstantin Mrykhin sentenced the court to six and a half years in prison. In April 2013, the remaining 7 defendants received various penalties. Five were sent to serve their sentence in a colony of the general regime:

• Anatoly Zak is deprived of freedom for 9 years and 10 months.
• Oleg Fetkulov - for six years.
• Svetlana Efremova - for four years.
• Father and son of Derbenev - five years and four years 10 months.

Two were sent to the colony-settlement:

• Dmitry Roslyakov - for 5 years.
• Natalia Prokopiev - for 4 years.

The only one of all the accused, Vladimir Mukhutdinov, was simply fined and escaped imprisonment.

Cause of ignition

The cause of the fire could be a terrorist act. Therefore, an examination was carried out. But on the spot of the fire explosives and their tracks were not found. Therefore the version of the terrorist act has disappeared. There was only one reason. As the investigation showed, the fire began because of sparks of pyrotechnics that hit the foam plastic on the ceiling of the club. As a result, an immediate fire occurred.

It is already established that the fire in the club "Lame Horse", a photo of which is in this article, was due to fireworks. There are two types of it: pneumatic (serpentine, confetti) and pyrotechnic (Bengal fire). Its use indoors, which does not comply with fire safety standards, is prohibited.

Nevertheless, the club used pyrotechnics instead of more secure pneumatics. At first, it was assumed that the fire occurred because of an unauthorized firework release. But the witnesses told us that the organizers of the celebration themselves started it.

Perhaps they did not previously calculate the height of the room. Therefore, a column of sparks reached the ceiling. According to another version, the pyrotechnic product turned out to be substandard. As a result, the volley turned out to be too strong and reached the ceiling.

Consequences of fire

After the Lame Horse club burned down, the Perm Krai administration resigned from its authority. Then, throughout the country, checks of entertainment establishments (especially night ones) began on compliance with fire safety standards. As a result, 18% of Russian clubs were closed.

All the families of the victims were provided with material assistance in the amount of 100,000 rubles. This decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the city administration, which took place immediately after the tragedy.

Monument to the dead

The fire in the club "Lame Horse" will be remembered for a long time. In December 2011, in the park of the Ural Volunteers, which is located next to the former night club, a granite monument was erected to the victims of the fire.

It is made in the form of a gazebo. Inside is a stele. On its sides are carved the names, names and age of the deceased. The building of the former night club was transferred to the Perm Art Gallery and the museum, which collected materials on political repression.