A "flare gun fire" caused a large blaze at a cafe in Russia, killing 15 people, in the Russian city of Kostroma, Russian news agencies reported.
The fire broke out in the city of Kostroma in the early hours of Saturday morning, after someone reportedly discharged a flare during an argument at the 'Poligon' cafe, reported TASS.
Rescuers evacuated 250 people from the building. Governor of the Kostroma region, Sergei Sitnikov, said five people were slightly injured and received medical assistance.
The roof of the cafe collapsed during the blaze, which emergency services said spread over an area of 3,500 m2.
State television showed images of dozens of emergency workers fighting a huge fire that had engulfed the single-storey building.
The sign "Poligon" was visible amid the flames raging on its roof.
Authorities said the fire started at around 2:00 am local time and was put out at around 7:30 am, TASS reported.
A criminal investigation has been launched, and Russian police are searching for the person who used the flare gun, a signalling device typically used in emergency situations.
The TASS news agency, citing sources in emergency services, said a drunk man with a "flare gun" was likely to have caused the fire.
"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.
"Then he went to the dance floor and fired it."
Kostroma, home to 270,000 people, is located roughly 340 kilometres (210 miles) north of Moscow by a river.
This isn't the first time pyrotechnics have sparked a deadly fire in Russia.
In 2009, more than 150 people were killed in a blaze at the Lame Horse nightclub in the city of Perm that erupted after someone set off fireworks, reported euronews.
( With inputs from ANI )
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