Russia flew flags at half-mast Monday in a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of a devastating nightclub fire that killed 113 people, one of the country's worst tragedies of recent years.

NONE The city of Perm, where the fire occurred early Saturday, came to a standstill as residents observed one minute of silence.

Mourners buried the dead in a snow-covered cemetery outside the city and covered their graves with flowers and wreaths.

Twenty-five victims were buried in Perm on Monday, while nine others were buried in other towns, the regional governor Oleg Chirkunov said in a statement.

Major television channels suspended entertainment programming and advertising as memorial services were held across the country.

The death toll in the blaze rose to 113 when a 26-year-old woman died in hospital, said a spokeswoman for emergency services in Perm, located about 1,200 kilometres (700 miles) east of Moscow in the Ural Mountains.

NONE "The most important thing now is to save those who are injured, many of them in critical condition," Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday in a televised meeting on the emergency effort.

Putin added that additional fire-safety checks of public venues would be carried out ahead of the New Year celebrations.

Four people have been charged as part of an ongoing investigation into the tragedy and face up to seven years in jail.

"All the accused knew of the forthcoming firework show and about the ban on fireworks at events with a large gatherings of people but did not take proper precautions and did not take any action to stop this illegal activity," Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.

Breach of fire regulations

The executive director of the nightclub, its art director and co-founder have been charged with breach of fire regulations leading to injuries and deaths.

In addition, the director of a firework company has been charged with causing death through negligence.

Flames sparked by indoor fireworks quickly spread through the wooden and straw decor of the Lame Horse nightclub, witnesses said, causing panic as some 300 people stampeded in a rush to flee, choking on smoke.

NONE Around 120 people remained hospitalised on Monday, at least 28 of whom were in critical condition, the emergency situations ministry said.

The Russian press blamed authorities for failing to enforce safety regulations at the nightclub.

In a commentary titled "Worse Than Terrorists," the daily Vedomosti said official corruption and negligence were at the root of the tragedy.

"Of course, now checks and bans will be put in place. But why did this not happen earlier?" the popular daily Komsomolskaya Pravda asked.

The accusation was echoed by the Vremya Novostei newspaper: "No official has even begun to explain why the club was not shut after all those violations."

"The Perm tragedy is not the first of its kind and fires in nightclubs as a rule lead to numerous victims," the paper wrote.

-AFP