news24.com: Moscow - The death toll from a nightclub fire in the Russian city of Perm rose to 135 on Thursday after more victims died of severe burns, regional officials said in a statement.

Another 95 burn victims remained in hospitals, most of them in intensive care, according to the health ministry.

Four people, including the club's managing director, art director and co-founder have been charged as part of an ongoing probe into the fire, sparked by indoor fireworks on December 5. They face up to seven years in jail. And surely there will be no debt relief for their lousy management.

In a rare move, the local government of the Perm region quit en masse on Wednesday after President Dmitry Medvedev told the regional governor he expected swift punishment for all those responsible in the tragedy.

The disaster highlighted chronic lax enforcement of fire safety regulations in Russia, where the death rate from fires is several times higher than in the West.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday the nightclub owners had violated "every possible rule" of fire safety, in one of the deadliest accidents in Russia's recent history.

- AFP

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