Video: 'Brazil Nightclub Fire Kills 245 People (January 27, 2013)'
(Sunday, January 27, 2013, 2:00-2:30 a.m. Brasília Summer Time) — Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early today killing 245 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead.
The fire broke out while students from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) were holding a freshers’ ball. A crowd crush occurred following the fire, and a lack of exit signs and emergency exits allegedly contributed to the deaths. Most of the victims were between 18 and 30 years old.
Witnesses have said either a flare or fireworks lit by band members may have started the fire. Brazilian police stated that the fire began when the band Gurizada Fandangueira ignited a pyrotechnic device (similar to a signaling flare) while performing on stage.
The flare then ignited flammable acoustic foam in the ceiling. According to the authorities, other reasons for the high death toll include the lack of emergency exits (the only access in and out of the building was the front door) and the fact that the number of people inside exceeded the maximum capacity by hundreds.
Video: 'Nightclub Fire Kills 231 in Santa Maria, Brazil'
About 90 percent of the victims succumbed to smoke inhalation. Many people died as they either tried to hide in bathrooms or, in panic mistook them for exits. At least 180 bodies were removed from the bathrooms.
More than 150 were injured by the crush at the front door and the rapidly accumulating smoke within the nightclub. 14 injuries were attributed to severe burns caused by flames, with eight victims succumbing to their injuries in the days and weeks following the incident. More than 90 people were hospitalized.
Colonel Guido Pedroso de Melo of the Rio Grande do Sul Fire Department stated that the club’s front door was locked. De Melo told CNN: “This overcrowding made it difficult for people to leave, and according to the information we have, the security guards trapped the victims inside.”
The fire has the second-highest death toll for an entertainment event in Brazil; it is second only to the 1961 Niterói circus fire, which killed more than 500 people.
