15 years have passed since the tragedy at the Lame Horse club.

Thursday, December 5, marked the 15th anniversary of the tragedy in the club "Lame Horse" in Perm, where 156 people died in a fire caused by fireworks launched in honor of the institution's birthday.

"There are 156 surnames on the granite stone. These are those for whom the festive night 15 years ago became the last. Every year on December 5, fresh flowers appear here," reported Vasily Kuchumov, Izvestia correspondent.

The club premises caught fire because a volley of fireworks hit the ceiling and the building's decorations made of plastic and straw caught fire.

"It was very scary in there. <...> Honestly, I at that point I already thought that everything (I have a small child, a year old daughter at that time) to my sister will stay, because to survive in such a situation was generally unrealistic," - told "Izvestia" the victim Maria Gulyaeva.

She reported that after the tragedy she has lung problems. In addition, the victim noted that after the fire she can not ride in the elevator and in any institution chooses tables near the exit. She added that since that moment she can't stand the smell of smoke, because it reminds her of "Lame Horse".

An eyewitness to the fire, Irina Tretiakova, told Izvestia that she witnessed what was happening because her sister Yulia was in the club and had already been taken to the hospital by the time Irina arrived at the Lame Horse.

"This is the kind of hell I've [never] seen. Hell of crying men. People were coming into the hospital and carrying each other," she reported.

The fire at the Lame Horse, which killed 156 people, occurred on the night of December 5, 2009, in Perm. The flames spread across the premises after the ignition of pyrotechnics. Anatoly Zak, co-owner of the establishment, pleaded not guilty. Seven people were convicted in the case of the fire.

Zak was released early in 2018 after the recalculation of the term under the new law "a day for a day and a half". In 2013, he was sentenced to a sentence of nine years and ten months in a general regime colony.