PERM, Russia – A blaze sparked by onstage fireworks tore through a nightclub ceiling covered in decorative twigs and plastic sheeting early Saturday, killing at least 109 people and critically injuring about 90 in Russia's deadliest fire since the fall of the Soviet Union, witnesses and officials said.
Many victims died in a panicked crush for the single exit as they attempted to escape the flames and thick black smoke, witnesses said.
