LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - A blaze sparked by an indoor firework show ripped through a crowded Russian nightclub on Friday night, killing at least 102 people and injuring 134 as revellers stampeded for the exits.
One of the worst fires of the last century took place on Nov. 28, 1942, in the United States when 487 people were killed in a fire at the Cocoanut Grove night club in Boston.
Following is a chronology of some of the more recent fires to have hit discotheques, nightclubs and halls:
Oct 30, 1999 – Fifty-five people were killed and about 75 injured in a fire at a karaoke bar in the South Korean port of Inchon.
Mar 29, 2000 – A fire at the illegal Paradise video parlour, a pornographic movie theatre, killed 74 people in Jiaozuo in China’s Henan province.
Oct 20, 2000 – At least 20 people were killed after they were trapped in a fire at a trendy Mexico City dance club that had been shut by authorities 11 times previously.
Dec 25, 2000 – A Christmas Day fire killed 309 disco revellers and construction workers at a dance hall in a commercial centre in the Chinese city of Luoyang.
Jan 1, 2001 – Thirteen people were killed and 180 injured in a fire in a cafe packed with teenagers celebrating the New Year in Volendam, Netherlands.
July 20, 2002 – A fire started by a juggler with blazing batons ripped through the Utopia disco in the Peruvian capital Lima killing 14 people.
Dec 1, 2002 – Fifty people were killed, most suffocated by smoke, when fire swept through the packed Goajira bar and club in Venezuelan capital Caracas.
Feb 17, 2003 – Twenty-one people were killed in a stampede in an illegally operated nightclub in Chicago when they tried to escape pepper spray used to break up a fight and are crushed behind blocked doors.
Feb 20, 2003 – Fire swept through a nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, during a pyrotechnics display at the start of a heavy metal concert, killing 96 people and injuring nearly 200.
Dec 30, 2004 – A blaze in a crowded nightclub in Buenos Aires kills 192 people and injures nearly 1,000. Cause of the fire is thought to have been a type of flare sold for New Year’s celebrations fired into the club’s ceiling, which was covered with foam.
May 8, 2006 – A fire sweeps through a nightclub in the Thai resort of Pattaya killing at least eight and injuring 54 others.
Nov 27, 2006 – Nine people were killed in a pre-dawn fire that swept through a nightclub in the Dominican Republic capital Santo Domingo.
Nov 14, 2007 – A fire sweeps through a Chinese karaoke bar killing 11 people. The fire broke out at a bar in Chengde county in Hebei province, 230 km (140 miles) northeast of Beijing.
April 19, 2008 – At least 15 people died and 35 were injured when a fire ignited by fireworks swept through a crowded Quito nightclub in Ecuadaor.
Jan 1, 2009 – A blaze at a top Bangkok nightclub kills 61 people, including four foreigners. More than 100 people were injured as they stampeded out of the burning building.
Dec 4, 2009 – A blaze sparked by an indoor firework show rips through a crowded Russian nightclub, killing at least 102 and injuring 134 as revellers stampeded for the exits. (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)
