The fire broke out on Saturday night and was only extinguished after five and a half hours, Russian news agencies quoted local authorities as saying. It was probably triggered by a drunk with a flare gun. The police arrested a suspect.
According to the local emergency services, the fire broke out around 02:00 a.m. (00:00 CET) in the popular bar “Poligon” and quickly spread throughout the building. It was only deleted again at 7:30 a.m. According to the authorities, around 250 people were able to be brought to safety in good time, but for at least 15 of the bar visitors, any rescue came too late.
Rescue workers told the Tass news agency that the fire was apparently caused by a drunk. “He was hanging out with a woman in the bar, giving her flowers and holding a flare gun the whole time,” Tass quoted an emergency services official as saying. “Then he went onto the dance floor and fired them off”.
The police later arrested a suspect and, according to their own statements, handed him over to the investigative authorities. The statement did not initially indicate whether it was the drunk. State television showed footage of the bar, which is housed in a distribution center. The entire building was engulfed in flames while dozens of firefighters battled the blaze.
A total of 50 firefighters and 20 fire engines were needed to extinguish the fire, a firefighter said on local television. According to him, the situation was particularly difficult because of the danger of collapse.
According to its website, the “Poligon” is a simple traditional pub during the day, but transforms into a dance bar at night. The restaurant is therefore particularly popular with traffic police officers.
Kostroma is located around 300 kilometers northeast of Moscow at the confluence of the river of the same name and the Volga. The city, which has around 230,000 inhabitants, is one of the oldest cities in Russia and is famous for its monasteries and medieval architecture.
Source: Nachrichten
