At least 245 die in Brazil club inferno
January 28, 2013, Monday
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At least 245 people died early yesterday when fire tore through a nightclub packed with university students in the southern Brazilian city of Santa Maria, police said.
The death toll rapidly increased as firefighters searched the charred remains of the Kiss club, believed to have been packed with between 1,000 and 2,000 revelers at the time of the blaze.
At least 200 others were thought to have been injured. A security guard at the club said many of them were hurt in a rush to escape.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff cut short a visit to Chile, where she was attending a European and Latin American summit, to head to Santa Maria and oversee the response to the tragedy.
"It's a tragedy for all of us, and I cannot continue here at the summit, because my priority is the Brazilian people," she told reporters in Santiago.
She said federal and local authorities were mobilizing "all resources, so that we do not just recover the bodies but also support families at this time and provide very efficient care to the injured."
It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, but media reports said the fire broke out after 2am when the nightclub was hosting a university party featuring a rock band using pyrotechnics.
"Everyone was pushing and shoving. The fire started out small, but in seconds it exploded," Taynne Vendruscolo, one of the survivors, told reporters. "Those who were close to the stage could not get out."
"It was a very small door for so many people to get out," added Luana Santos Silva, another survivor, interviewed by TV Globo.
Santa Maria fire chief Guido de Melo said the fire caused widespread panic, and many revelers were trampled or died from smoke inhalation.
Major Cleberson Bastianello, a military police commander in Santa Maria, confirmed that 245 people had been killed.
Pictures published by local media showed firefighters dousing the blackened shell of a red brick building with water to put out the flames.
(AFP)
The death toll rapidly increased as firefighters searched the charred remains of the Kiss club, believed to have been packed with between 1,000 and 2,000 revelers at the time of the blaze.
At least 200 others were thought to have been injured. A security guard at the club said many of them were hurt in a rush to escape.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff cut short a visit to Chile, where she was attending a European and Latin American summit, to head to Santa Maria and oversee the response to the tragedy.
"It's a tragedy for all of us, and I cannot continue here at the summit, because my priority is the Brazilian people," she told reporters in Santiago.
She said federal and local authorities were mobilizing "all resources, so that we do not just recover the bodies but also support families at this time and provide very efficient care to the injured."
It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, but media reports said the fire broke out after 2am when the nightclub was hosting a university party featuring a rock band using pyrotechnics.
"Everyone was pushing and shoving. The fire started out small, but in seconds it exploded," Taynne Vendruscolo, one of the survivors, told reporters. "Those who were close to the stage could not get out."
"It was a very small door for so many people to get out," added Luana Santos Silva, another survivor, interviewed by TV Globo.
Santa Maria fire chief Guido de Melo said the fire caused widespread panic, and many revelers were trampled or died from smoke inhalation.
Major Cleberson Bastianello, a military police commander in Santa Maria, confirmed that 245 people had been killed.
Pictures published by local media showed firefighters dousing the blackened shell of a red brick building with water to put out the flames.
(AFP)
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