Two more victims of a Russian nightclub fire died on Friday bringing the death toll to 141 people, a spokesman for the governor of the Urals Perm region where the tragedy happened said.
A 27-year-old man and 33-year-old woman died in hospital in St. Petersburg. The woman was the wife of the Lame Horse club's artistic director, who is among those arrested over the tragedy.
Some 90 people remain in hospitals in Perm, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Chelyabinsk after the blaze the engulfed the club in the west Urals city in the early hours of Saturday after an indoor fireworks display went awry. Three people died in a hospital in the Russian capital overnight.
Doctors say the victims have extensive burns and toxic poisoning of internal organs, many of them in critical condition.
The artistic director along with two other Lame Horse executives and the director of the fireworks supplier, are under investigation over the accident.
Negligence charges were brought on Friday against two more senior emergencies and fire safety officials in the city, who were sacked along with a host of other officials earlier this week. They face up to seven years in prison if convicted.
Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a newspaper interview that inspectors had for years turned a blind eye to breaches of fire safety in the nightclub. He said the probe had revealed numerous breaches in the club, including those committed during reconstruction several years ago.
President Dmitry Medvedev demanded on Tuesday punishment for those to blame for the tragedy. He called "the hosts of the show" in the club "irresponsible scoundrels," but also highlighted local authorities' role.
The government of the Perm region resigned on Wednesday over the tragedy.
PERM, December 11 (RIA Novosti)
