Spain arrests man suspected of causing 2009 Russian nightclub fire

Spanish police have arrested a Russian man suspected of causing a fire that killed more than 150 people in a packed nightclub in the Russian city of Perm last December, police said Thursday, DPA reported.

The businessman, who was identified as Konstantin Mrykhin, was detained near his Barcelona home on August 31.

The suspect was believed to have fled to Spain to elude a possible prison sentence of up to ten years in Russia.

Mrykhin was held on charges of having organized fireworks inside the nightclub, where he worked as commercial director, to celebrate its eighth anniversary, according to Spanish police sources.

Several other people have also been charged in Russia with causing the fire. Mrykhin was expected to be extradited to Russia.