An explosion has torn through a nightclub in the Russian city of Perm, killing at least 76 people.

Details are sketchy but Russian news agencies citing police report that many people were also injured in the blast.

About 200 people are said to have been in the club when the blast occurred, at 2315 local time (2015 GMT).

Some agencies quoted officials as saying fireworks had caused the explosion, although this has not been confirmed.

Perm is some 1,400km (870 miles) east of Moscow.

The explosion happened at 2315 local time (2015 GMT), RIA news agency reported.

It quoted an official as saying no blaze followed the blast, which happened at the Lame Horse bar.

"We are not talking about an act of terrorism in the Perm cafe, people died as a result of an explosion of fireworks," an official from the Russian prosecutor's office told Interfax.

The club is located in the city centre, reports said.

I know a lot of Asians are always shooting off fireworks in al types of places, even indoors sometimes, but I didn't think it was done in Russia. This might have been a club catering to Asians though.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8396587.stm