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Subscribe to RSSA fire broke out early Sunday morning at a night club in Santa Maria, in southern Brazil, killing revelers — many of them students. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.
Updated at 1:23 a.m. ET: At least 233 people were killed after a band’s fireworks show sparked a rapidly moving fire in a packed nightclub in southern Brazil and fleeing patrons were unable to find their way out, local police said.
The bodies removed from the Kiss nightclub in the southern city of Santa Maria were taken to the Municipal Sports Center gymnasium for identification, police said.
Major Gerson da Rosa Ferreira, who led rescue efforts at the scene for the military police, told Reuters that the victims died of asphyxiation or from being trampled.
Police Maj. Cleberson Braida Bastianello told the Associated Press by telephone that the toll had risen to 233 with the death of a hospitalized victim.
Officials earlier counted 232 bodies that had been brought to the gymnasium in Santa Maria.
In addition to the number of deaths, more than 100 people were injured, police said, and most remain hospitalized. Police officials had reported earlier in the day that 245 people were killed. The death toll could still rise, police said later, from the people who are injured.
Fire brigade colonel Guido Pedroso de Melo told O Globo newspaper that rescuers had difficulty entering the premises because of "a barrier of bodies" at the entrance to the club.
Television footage monitored by Reuters overnight showed people crying outside the club as shirtless firefighters used sledge hammers and axes to knock down an exterior wall to open up an exit.
Agencia RBS via AP
People help a man injured in a nightclub fire in Santa Maria city, Brazil, on Sunday.
Rodrigo Moura, who the newspaper Diario de Santa Maria identified as a security guard at the club, said it was at its capacity of between 1,000 and 2,000 people and patrons were pushing and shoving to escape, the AP reported. Police estimated the crowd at some 900 revelers.
Fire officials said at least one exit was locked and that club bouncers, who at first thought those fleeing were trying to skip out on bar tabs, initially blocked patrons from leaving, Reuters reported.
The club's management said in a statement it would help authorities with their investigation, Reuters reported.
One of the club's owners has surrendered to police for questioning, GloboNews TV reported.
"It was really fast. There was a lot of smoke, really dark smoke," survivor Aline Santos Silva, 29, told Globonews TV. "We were only able to get out quickly because we were in a VIP area close to the door."
President Dilma Rousseff cut short a visit to Chile and visited families of the victims at the Municipal Sports Center, where relatives were gathering to identify the bodies. She met with relatives of the injured at Hospital de Caridade de Santa Maria.
Rousseff declared a national three-day mourning period for victims of the fire.
“Sad Sunday!” Tarso Genro, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul state where the club is located, tweeted. “We are taking all of the possible and appropriate actions,” the tweet read, according to a rough translation by NBC News. “I will be in Santa Maria later this morning.”
The precise cause of the fire was still under investigation, authorities said. But Luiza Sousa, a civil police official in Santa Maria, told Reuters that the blaze started when someone with the band ignited what was described as a flare, which then set fire to the ceiling. The fire spread "in seconds," Sousa said.
The tragedy in Brazil recalled other nightclub disaster. A fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in 2003 killed 100 people after pyrotechnics used on stage by the rock band Great White set ablaze foam used for soundproofing on the walls. A Buenos Aires nightclub blaze in 2004 killed nearly 200 people.
Reuters noted that Brazil's safety standards and emergency response capabilities are under particular scrutiny as the country prepares to host the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The Brazilian state’s Health secretary, Ciro Simoni, told the news service that emergency medical supplies from all over the state were being sent to the scene.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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God! and the anniversary comin up shortly, here in R.I.!
After the fire at The Station in 2003, I didn't think I'd ever see a headline like this again. Apparently there are no limits to human stupidity and recklessness. I sincerely hope the idiot in the band that thought it was a bright idea to set off a flare inside a building is charged with multiple counts of, at minimum, manslaughter - and gets to cool his heels in jail for the next 20-30 years while he contemplates the tragic consequences of his mindless act.
Very sad and very preventable!. Of course its always profit over people.
I just saw the Motley Crew tragedy all over again.
This is the 3rd night club fire in 10 years that was started by the use of fireworks inside the building, The station in RI, A night club in Russia, and now this. Fireworks should never be used inside at all!! For the lost, RIP...
Yup..but they know better than any guvmint...they don't need no stinkin regulations ....God what morons.
at its capacity of 1000 to 2000? that seems pretty vague. if the capacity actually is 1000 and there were 2000 people there, then it was extremely unsafe.
How sad! Why have a pyrotechnics in a small place? (1000 person capacity is too small for that)
This is what happens when "freedom" is taken as no regulations or regulations with no enforcement.
We are often told that we know better than any government. We can regulate ourselves. We....can't do sh** without a nanny.
500 people in a nightclub? Set of fireworks? Yeah you know better, dumb arses.
Just like folks in Florida a few years ago barreling down the interstate at 80 mph and come upon a fog bank. What happens? They don't slow down. Result? Carnage as hundreds of cars pile up and fire engulfs many of them.
Later a fat man said. I was cavalier about fog but now I slow down. Ya think Bubba? But dat dare "guvmint" can't tell me nuttin.
They just had another fire at a shirt factory in India, many dead. A few weeks ago there was another fire in India, hundreds dead, jumped from upper floors.
Republicans say we don't need any regulations...and see what happens.
120 car pileups in the USA and they blame it on fog, snow. Ghee, ya can't do 80 mph in a fog or on black ice. Nooooo?
I am surprised that many people still want to listen to Great White....they suck! I mean did they not cause a fire here in the states a few yrs ago with their fireworks stupidity INDOORS!
Time to ban all night clubs and anything related to fire and/or partying!!!
Ah yes and I am reminded that Brazil will be hosting the Olympics and the World Cup in coming years. Treat this as a learning experience Brazil. You will not be able to handle the World Cup if you can't handle 2 thousand people in a night club.
a.) You cant judge a whole country on one carless mistake and b.) Cant you be sorry to the many families who lost loved ones tonight instead of being fizated on the Olympics...
c.) None of the world cup games will be hosted in Santa Maria. d.) The Olympics will be hosted in Rio de Janeiro.
This was an isolated case. Don't judge the whole country because an accident happened in one place. If your point was the case, nobody would go to school/colleges or movie theaters in USA because there is alway a unexpected shooting somewhere, and those are not accidents.
Soapbox time.
Forrest Gump said "stupid is as stupid does" and "life is like a box of chocolates." A lot of people die in preventable circumstances which is exemplified by this nightclub fire but also could be exemplified by many other types of events including those related to ideology and war. In these circumstances, you might need faith and belief because there are so many people who are fighting against rationality, justice, and regulation. We must often take the bad with the good. We can't always have our cake and eat it too. We wouldn't want to throw out the baby with the bath water.
Do people really care for normative values, for absolutes, for collective zeitgeist, and for social consciousness? Money talks and BS walks. Is it that we are baited with the good to accept whatever else that might happen or exist as the normal situation about which we are warned and have to be vigilant of and take personal responsibility to guard against anything bad that might result, happen, or exist and get accustomed to it? Stories like this rub our noses in bad stuff which could be analogous to people trying to train their dogs not to go to the bathroom in the house.
Why did the "Occupy Wall Street" movement fizzle out and/or fail which was trying to sort out and deal with these general types of issues about mistreating people due to economics? Likewise, the hippie movement failed which was about distrusting the Establishment, distrusting the many lies in our society like those revealed through the Pentagon Papers, and distrust of commercialization of our morals, and distrust of exploitation. Those who try to apply rationality to faith, belief, religion, and philosophy of life are severely hated and fail; for example atheists, humanists, philosophers, and scientists are often hated. Etc, and etc.
Are we justified in feeling really depressed over these kinds of events that just seem to go on and on? As depressing as life is, life does go on and so do the events and problems.
232 people, not one firearm was used, so maybe we ought to ban fire as well....
I do understand why people would want to go to a club pack thousands of people for no reason except for money...I make it a point not attend clubs that pack more than 100 people, and the building have to be large enough to hold 200...
I do not attend events in-doors or out-doors that pack more than 5,000.00 people...
Huge events are not safe; if people panick, then others get hurt for no apprent reason...then you have the problem of restrooms, large lines of people waiting to use the restrooms at large events sporting events or a Michael Jackson concert...these places are not safe and people should take responsibility for their own actions when it comes to attending huge events...
I am so sad for the families of the deceased.
Their sons and daughters went out for a nice evening out and died because no one considered the consequences of a band firing off their fireworks.
Bind the hands and legs of the owners with zip ties... out to sea and out the 'helo' door.
God be with you all... So sorry for you loss...
Let's hope the Obama administration and Dianne Feinstein don't hear about this. Soon Fireworks, matches, lighters and rubbing two sticks together would be against the law in the United States!
What!? you cray cray
Where have you been? Most of these things including their ingredients are already controlled, can be restricted or illegal, can get you reported to the law, and can get you in trouble. States, counties, cities, businesses, and previous times before Obama are more responsible and involved, more so than the federal government or the current federal politicians. In places of drought, even lit cigarettes, outdoor grilling, cooking, and BBQs can be forbidden as fire prevention strategy, and not every state allows fireworks nor every kind of fireworks to be sold to the general public. Many businesses restrict open flames around propane and require special procedures, conditions, and permits for such things as welding. Rubbing two sticks together can be considered a threat or use of a weapon. Putting fuels in the wrong container can get you in trouble. Get a clue. Isn't everything potentially illegal anyway?
Aren't lighters forbidden on planes? Also fireworks are presumably forbidden on airplanes. Are you allowed to disrupt a classroom, movie, speech, lecture, or seminar with fireworks? Are pyromanics allowed?
Last I checked, all states have fireworks displays on the 4th of July that are administered by private contractors. In most states the public are allowed to have and enjoy fireworks. Some may only be snakes, sparklers and fountains and some allow things that go boom. I don't think there are any laws that forbid lighters, matches or rubbing two sticks together.
No, lighters are not forbidden on planes. You are allowed to bring a common lighters (disposable) or one book of safety matches (like the kind you get for free at a gas station).
Time to set down the bong, you are trying to thread needles. The was no mention of a plane anywhere in my post!
OBAMA will ask Brazilian Congress to pass a law banning fire.
What are you talking about? Your statement holds no weight.
I think he was being facetious shortandlittle.
Ban night clubs and fireworks!
OBAMA issued a statement offering his condolences on behalf of the American people and then Blamed Bush for this tragedy and asked Congress to pass more "investment money" for a additional government research on fire.
Dont care how much you hate Obama. He aint going nowhere anytime soon. It doesnt even matter what combination of truth & lies you and your types put out there. Obama can not be touched. So just go to the Back woods and stay there. Let the civilized world handel the People that matter.
Hey Pont, just what is it like to wake up every day pissed off? Sucks to be you that's for sure miserable idiot. Glad I'm not you.
It sucks to get kicked in the nuts every day. I am elated that you teabaggers can look forward to at least four more years of deep depression and general discomfort.
So you mean to say Obama mentioned nothing about GLOBAL WARMING?
This is a terrible tragedy to hear about, the fire at the nightclub in Brazil where there was only one working exit. It is very true that in life tragedies may happen they cannot always be prevented but people need to think safety first. This club should have had more than one exit. In fact, all public places, nightclubs, etc. should have more than one exit. This same type of tragedy happened in New York at one of the night clubs, in which the incident was related to a break-up I believe. Someone went and set the club on fire on purpose because they broke up with their partner, who they thought was inside. Bodies were just piled on top of each other they said in this incident. Terrible. After that incident occurred, that's when the discussion on safety was brought up with regards to nightclubs. They informed people that they should "never" go to a nightclub that only has one exit. They also stated that when you do decide to go out to nightclubs, the first thing you do when you get there is "check for exits". Do not hesitate to "ask questions". Ask "Where are all the exits", before you get comfortable and start enjoying yourself "first and foremost" Check to see if they have "bouncers" who stand at the exits during the night. This is done. One nightclub I've been to in New Jersey had bouncers at each door "exit" all night, switching if need be, taking turns to ensure the doors are monitored for safety. Great idea and worth it. They had the exits monitored from the outside and well as on the inside. Now this shows caring and concerns for the welfare of others. That is one safety rule I practice. Whenever I go to a nightclub I make sure of where the exits are and if they are working. They should also have fire extinguishers in these nightclubs. One more factor to think about is that more than a few fires have started from light shows and/or other used at concerts where people were seriously injured in fires caused by equipment they used in the show. I believe that some types of these equipment are not safe to be used in a setting of a certain size and/or around certain material, and/or indoors at all for that matter. Some things used in shows in nightclubs would be better off used at an outdoor show, the same way they hold fireworks outdoors.
My sympathy and prayers go out to all those injured and their families and friends.
There are going to be more awful fires because of greed for money and not caring for people.
"But Luiza Sousa, a civil police official in Santa Maria, told Reuters that the blaze started when someone with the band ignited what was described as a flare, which then set fire to the ceiling. The fire spread "in seconds"
Hopefully this irresponsible idiot went down in the flames....
He did not, but one of the other band members did...