adminnightclub, Kiss, in Santa Maria, a small city in Rio Grande do Sul, the prosperous southern state which shares its border with Argentina and Uruguay.
This appears to be the deadliest nightclub fire since 2000 anywhere in the world.
The inferno started during the fireworks show when a band was playing in the club Saturday night. As fireworks hit the ceiling of the club, packed with 2 000 teenagers enjoying a Saturday night party, the soundproofing material made of foam caught fire and within minutes the club was engulfed in huge flames and thick smoke, with most young boys and girls being asphyxiated or trampled to death.
The fire was so intense that fire crews had to knock down a wall to enter the premises and help those trapped inside escape. Major Gerson da Rosa Ferreira, overseeing rescue efforts at the scene for the military police, told reporters in Santa Maria that 189 bodies had already been identified and removed from the nightclub. But the fire fighters were still looking for more bodies in the burnt-down club.
While most people escaped unhurt, according to officials in Santa Maria, more than 200 are being treated in hospitals in the region. The condition of at least eight people is said to be very serious. The fire fighters said the fatalities happened due to inhalation of toxic smoke.
“Most of these people died asphyxiated. They panicked and ended up trampling each other. A major factor for the deaths was asphyxiation. Styrofoam creates a toxic smoke too,” the commanding general of the fire department, Col Guido de Melo told TOI over telephone from Santa Maria, a rich city of 300 000 people located some 300km west of the state capital of Porto Alegre, which will host a few games of Fifa World Cup in 2014.
The city, which has a major air fore base and is located on the trade highway to Argentina and Uruguay, was plunged in sorrow as many families lost their teenager sons and daughters.
Calling the tragedy “a sad Sunday”, Rio Grande do Sul governor Tarso Genro said “all possible measures” are being taken to treat the fire victims.
Though the whole of Brazil was plunged into sorrow yesterday morning, the tragedy is all likely to be turned into a political issue soon. The governor of Rio Grannde de Sul belongs to the Workers Party — the same as Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
As the party has been under attack for several corruption scandals that happened during the tenure of President Lula from 2002 to 2010, its detractors have not got new ammunition to attack the party and President Rousseff.
“The President’s record is unblemished, but now the opposition will attack the government as the tragedy has happened as we prepare for the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016,” said a Sao Paulo-based leader of the Workers Party, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It’s bad for Brazil’s image.” — PTI.
Online Reporter