MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin today lambasted officials and businessmen for irresponsibility in connection with the weekend nightclub fire in Perm that killed 118 people.

The Perm fire chief was fired today, Russian news agencies cited the Emergencies Ministry as saying.

The fire at the Lame Horse nightclub broke out early Saturday when an indoor fireworks display ignited the ceiling, which was decorated with wooden branches. The blaze spread with shocking speed while the hundreds of customers tried to flee through a single exit. Many of the victims succumbed to gases or were crushed in the throng.

About 130 people were hospitalized, scores of them with severe burns. Five of them died today, bringing the death toll to 118, the emergencies ministry said.

In pre-dawn visit to Perm, Putin laid flowers near the site and held a meeting with local officials shot through with criticism and dismay.

Referring to safety rules, Putin said: "the businessmen in this case violated everything there was to violate."

"I don't understand how they could use in a closed room pyrotechnics that had direct instruction written on it in Russian: indoor use prohibited."

Devastating Russian blazes in recent years have hit drug-treatment facilities, nursing homes and nightclubs.