More than 200 die in Brazilian nightclub blaze ‘caused by flare’

Witnesses reported desperate scenes in the early hours of the morning as partygoers joined firefighters trying to smash through walls, doors and windows to try and free those trapped inside while others carried injured and dying friends looking for help.

Survivors said that while 
the emergency services responded quickly, the fire spread so quickly they were unable to do more.

The Kiss nightclub was hosting a party for students from the Federal University of Santa Maria when the fire started.

It is thought between 1,000 and 2,000 people were in the club where Brazilian country music band Gurizada Fandangueira was playing.

Survivor Luana Santos Silva told a local television station: “There was so much smoke and fire, it was complete panic and it took a long time for people to get out, there were so many dead.”

While the cause of the fire had not been confirmed last night, suspicion was falling on a firework or flare let by a band performing at the time.

Michele Pereira, another survivor, said: “The band that was on stage began to use flares and, suddenly, they stopped the show and pointed them upward.

“At that point the ceiling caught fire.

“It was really weak but in a matter of seconds it spread.”

Dr Paulo Afonso Beltrame, a professor at the university’s medical school, was among those who helped victims at the city’s of 
the Federal University of Santa Maria.

He said survivors, police and firefighters had told him that a flare lit by a member of the band had set the ceiling’s soundproofing ablaze.

“Large amounts of toxic smoke quickly filled the room and I would say that at least 90 per cent of the victims died of asphyxiation.

“The toxic smoke made people lose their sense of direction so they were unable to find their way to the exit.

“At least 50 bodies were found inside a bathroom. Apparently they confused the bathroom door with the exit door.

“In the hospital I saw desperate friends and relatives walking and running down the corridors looking for information.

“It was one of the saddest scenes I have ever witnessed.”

Bereaved families gathered at the scene as emergency workers removed bodies from the charred remains of the nightclub.

The dead were taken to a makeshift morgue at a gymnasium in the city while 117 people were treated in hospital.

Earlier reports had put the death toll at 245 but by last night this had been revised down.

The fire led Brazilian President Dilma Roussef to cancel a series of meetings at a summit of 
Latin American and European leaders in Chile’s capital of Santiago so she could head to Santa Maria.

“It is a tragedy for all of us. I am not going to continue in the meeting (in Chile) for very clear reasons,” she said.

“We will use all possible resources not only to recover the bodies but to give support to all the families at this time.

“This region has a healthy infrastructure but we will give all necessary assistance.

“I would like to say the population of our country and the population of Santa Maria, at this time of sadness, we are together. And of course we will get over this in the face of this sadness.”

Santa Maria is a university city of more than 250,000 at the southern tip of Brazil.