At least 13 killed after fire erupts at cafe in Russia

A fire in a large cafe in the Russian city of Kostroma killed 13 people and injured five others Saturday, local authorities said.

The governor of the Kostroma region, Sergei Sitnikov, said five others were injured in the blaze in Kostroma, a city of 270,000 about 210 miles north of Moscow.

The fire erupted in the early hours after someone apparently used a flare gun, according to the authorities. The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that a brawl broke out in the cafe shortly before the fire, but it wasn’t immediately clear if it had anything to do with the flare gun.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said a suspect had been detained for allegedly firing the flare gun and that the cafe’s director also was being held.

Rescuers were able to evacuate 250 people. The roof of the cafe collapsed in the blaze, and firefighters spent five hours putting it out.

Ikhtiyar Mirzoyev, a member of the regional legislature and owner of the cafe, promised assistance to those affected by the fire.

It wasn’t the first time that pyrotechnics caused a deadly fire at a recreational venue in Russia. In 2009, more than 150 people were killed in a blaze at the Lame Horse nightclub in the city of Perm that erupted after a performer set off fireworks.

Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze that engulfed a cafe in Kostroma about 210 miles north of Moscow. Investigators said the fire broke out after someone apparently fired a flare gun.