Grieving friends and relatives of victims of a Russian nightclub fire buried the dead on a frigid Monday as the death toll climbed to 113 and looked likely to rise, AP reported.
The prospect of many more deaths looms over the stricken city of Perm, where the Lame Horse nightclub caught fire early Saturday. Russia's health minister Tatiana Golikova said at least 68 of the 130 people hospitalized after the fire are on respirators.
The blaze, caused by an indoor fireworks display, shocked the city of 1 million and the nation, which observed an official day of mourning, including the cancellation of many entertainment events.
"This is a tragedy for the entire country. More than a hundred young people died - they are part of our generation," said Muscovite Sergei Novikov.
In Perm, many residents sounded their car horns Monday in a sign of commemoration, while others flocked to a park in front of the club to lay red flowers in tribute.
At snow-covered cemeteries throughout the city, mourners wept inconsolably as temperatures dipped to around minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit).
Four people, including the club's co-owner, have been arrested. They could face charges, including violation of fire safety regulations and causing the deaths of more than two people through negligence.
The Emergencies Ministry said a young woman's death of severe burns Monday raised the death toll to 113.
Most of the dead were killed by burns or gas inhalation, officials have said, although some were crushed as the crowd tried to flee through a single exit.
Video footage from Russian television showed the club's ceiling covered in a pattern of woven twigs, which quickly caught fire from one of the pyrotechnics. The ceiling behind the twigs reportedly was highly inflammable plastic.
Enforcement of fire safety standards is infamously poor in Russia and there have been several catastrophic blazes at drug-treatment facilities, nursing homes, apartment buildings and nightclubs in recent years.