Firework blast kills 100

[hotdog]

'More than 100 dead' in Russian nightclub explosion | World news | guardian.co.uk

BBC News - Explosion in Russian nightclub 'kills scores'

[ozbiz]

According to reports "outdoor" fireworks were used.... inside.

[Andy_P]

How can they describe this as a "blast" or "explosion"?

From the video and reports I've heard, it was just "a spark" setting a rush matting ceiling covering alight, causing a fire.

As the Russian official said: "There were fireworks launched at the scene, and one hit the plastic ceiling, setting all ablaze. People panicked and succumbed to burns, general crush and gas poisoning."

[RocketRev]

The press reports linked to above were the "breaking news" reports. So they'd have been based on early eye witness accounts and the like. Such are well known to produce all sorts of widely differing accounts about what happened. It's understandable given the chaos, confusion and stress of the moment. Those who were inside the building would quite likely still be in shock and be trying to cope with surviving a traumatic event. Those outside the building would also be shaken and trying to guess what could have caused what they were seeing. People may have heard the bang of a firework - then the next thing they saw was the flames. It's easy then to think that an explosion had happened.

The video that I've seen appears to show folk taking part in activities - not watching fireworks. If the early eye witness accounts came from folk who weren't really paying attention to the fireworks (because they were doing something else - another activity, ordering at the bar, in the toilets or some other part of the club....) then it would be understandable for them to talk of a bang followed by fire as an explosion.

It's only now, as more detailed examinations have taken place and the assessment of accounts and videos has been done, that it's clearer that "explosion" isn't an appropriate description.

[Andy_P]

All the eye-witness descriptions seemed to refer to it as a fire and smoke so no confusion there. It's only the UK headlines that used the emotive language.