@@ -1,1 +1,1 @@ - +Russian police have detained a man suspected of starting a fire at a bar that killed at least 15 people after he reportedly fired a 'flare gun' on the dance floor.<br>The man was detained after the fire broke out at the 'Polygon' bar in Kostroma in the early hours of Saturday morning.<br>Police said at least 15 people were killed, and others injured.<br>The man reportedly arrested was a 23-year-old married man named Stanislav Ionkin. He was detained on suspicion of starting the fire when he fired the flare gun into the ceiling of the night club.<br>Other reports described a fight inside the club which turned into a 'mass brawl'.<br>Fire fighters fought through the early hours to put out the blaze at the bar around 300 kilometres (180 miles) northeast of Moscow.<br>A video from Mash media showed military serviceman Stanislav Ionkin being detained by police over the night club fire. <br> Russian firefighters work to extinguish a fire at the bar in Kostroma, Russia November 5, 2022<br> Russia emergency officials said the fire killed 15 people at the 'Polygon' bar in Kostroma<br> Authorities said the fire started at around 2.00 am local time and was put out around 7.30 am<br> 'Police officers identified and detained the suspect (behind) unlawful acts in an entertainment establishment in the city of Kostroma, which resulted in a fire and the death of people,' Russian police said in a statement.<br>'He has now been handed over to investigative authorities.' <br>Reports say the suspect, Stanislav Ionkin, had been wounded in the war in Ukraine during clashes in August.<br>After suffering a broken leg, he was hospitalised in the Russian city of Astrakhan. He was on medical leave when he returned to the Kostroma region where he had lived.<br> RELATED ARTICLES <br><br><br><br>Share this article<br>Share<br><br><br>The video shows Ionkin pleading with police: 'Don't hit me. It's not my fault. Men, don't twist my arms.'<br>He then tells the officers: 'I give up.'<br>The motive for the incident was unclear.<br>Russia's Investigative Committee have since opened a criminal case of 'causing death by negligence'. <br>Among the dead in the nightclub inferno were beautician Natalya Kineshemtseva.<br>Others identified as having died in the blaze were Alexei Yakimov, 40, and Yury Zachinalov.<br> Natalya Kineshemtseva (left) and Alexei Yakimov (right) both died in the fire at the 'Polygon' bar in Kostroma, Russia<br> Yury Zachinalov also died in fire at the bar in Kostroma, Russia<br> The fire erupted after a man fired a 'flare gun' on the dance floor, initial news reports said<br>As the inferno ripped through the Polygon club in Kostroma in the early hours of the morning, the fire caused the ceiling to collapse.<br>Some 60 suffered burns and other injuries in the fire which triggered panic among revellers.<br>Authorities said the fire started at around 2.00 am local time and was put out at around 7.30 am.<br>'People were running out, just screaming and moaning,' said one man in the club.<br>The governor of the Kostroma region, Sergei Sitnikov, earlier said 13 people were killed, but emergency services then said the remains of two other people were found.<br>'Two more bodies were recovered. This means the number of victims is now 15,' the Russian TASS news agency quoted law enforcement sources as saying.<br>'He was spending time in the bar with a woman, ordered her flowers, with a flare gun in his hands,' the source told the agency.<br>'Then he went to the dance floor and fired it.' <br>A horrifying video from inside the nightclub shows the moment the blaze caused the ceiling to collapse.<br> Housed in a single-story logistical centre, the bar erupted in flames in the early hours of Saturday morning<br> Local emergency services said the blaze had spread out over 3,500 square meters<br> The death toll was reportedly worse due to four fire doors being bolted. Fire-fighters had to use special cutting gear to break in to rescue people.<br>The club was owned by a local politician Ikhtiyar Mirzoyev, a member of United Russia, the main party backing Vladimir Putin.<br>Hero Andrei Kuzmin saved dozens of lives by kicking down a door to allow clubbers to escape. Around 250 people were evacuated from the building. <br>'When the fight started they switched on the lights, there was a pop and there was instant smoke,' said Kuzmin.<br>'It was instantaneous. There was a clap, there was smoke, panic, smoke. The only thing I said was 'calm down'. Then I went to kick down the door. I kicked the door open and people went out.<br>'There were a lot of people in the place because it was very popular. I can't say for sure, but at a rough guess there were about 300 people, because everything was packed, both the bar and the dance floor, and the tables were all taken.<br> By day, it is a typical Russian 'stolovaya' - a casual restaurant serving traditional food<br> Around 250 people were evacuated from the building when it caught fire<br>'[After the fire started] I wasn't thinking about anything. I was thinking about how I was going to get out of here, that's what I was thinking about.<br>'I took it [the door] out and the crowd rushed through. If I hadn't taken it out, it would have been terrible.<br>'We went outside and seconds later there were clouds of smoke bursting through. People were running out, just screaming and moaning. '<br>A woman clubber said: 'If it wasn't for Andrei, we wouldn't have survived.'<br>A woman named Yulia said: 'The fight started initially, and the bouncers were pushing everyone away. The fight kind of stopped. The it started again on the dance floor.<br>'I saw smoke where the fight was going on. There was a loud clap and there was a lot of smoke. Luckily we had an emergency exit.<br>'We ran outside through the kitchen. There was panic and shouting.'<br>Sergei Vinogradov, 45, said: 'We got a lot of people out the window. And then I choked on smoke. I felt I was going to fall down, and I climbed out, too'.<br>He said music was playing, people were dancing and suddenly there was a flash and the plastic ceiling burst into flames. People panicked and ran towards the only unblocked exit.<br> One fire fighter told regional state television that it took 50 people to extinguish the fire and that they had used 20 fire engines<br> The sign 'Polygon' was visible amid the flames raging on its roof<br> Fire fighters managed to put out the fire at 'Polygon' night club around 7.30am<br> An image shows the scene after Russian fire fighters put out the blaze<br>Sergei and his friends broke a window and began dragging people out. He suffered burns on his back and hands.<br>Local emergency services said the blaze had spread out over 3,500 square meters.<br>On its website, 'Polygon' says it acts as an evening and night-time 'place for recreation and entertainment'.<br>By day, it is a typical Russian 'stolovaya' - a casual restaurant serving traditional food.<br>It says it is housed in a 'distribution centre' and is popular with traffic police.<br>State television showed images of dozens of emergency workers fighting a huge fire that had engulfed the single-storey building.<br>The sign 'Polygon' was visible amid the flames raging on its roof.<br>One fire fighter told regional state television that it took 50 people to extinguish the fire and that they had used 20 fire engines.<br>He said the fire was especially difficult to put out because of the risk of the building collapsing.<br>Kostroma, a city on the Volga river of around 230,000 people, is one of Russia's oldest cities and is famous for [https://coub.com/tags/dancing https://coub.com/tags/dancing] its medieval architecture and monasteries.<br>