Moscow, December 5, 2009 : Over 100 people were killed and 135 other injured in an explosion that hit a nightclub in the Russian Ural city of Perm late Friday night, local media reported.

About 102 people have been killed and 135 injured, including 85 who are seriously injured, in the explosion and the ensuing fire, according to the state-owned VESTI TV channel.

The blast hit the cafe as over 200 people, mostly the cafe’s employees and their families, who were partying inside to celebrate the bar’s eighth anniversary, local police was quoted as saying by ITAR-TASS, suggesting that the explosion was caused by a fireworks rocket gone wrong.

“The accident was due to a violation of instructions when launching fireworks,” senior judicial official Vladimir Markin was quoted as saying.

Most victims succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning in the crush as the panicked crowd rushed to escape, a police official was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.