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Brazil nightclub fire kills at least 232
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/27/16721339-police-brazil-nightclub-fire-kills-at-least-232?lite
At least 232 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 a gymnasium for identification, police said.
Major ****** 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.
In addition to the number of deaths, more than 100 people were injured, police said, and most remain hospitalized.
Police officials had earlier reported that 245 people were killed. The death toll could still rise, police said later, from the people who are injured.
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.
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.
"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 was returning to Brazil following the blaze, her spokesperson said.
"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.
“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.
At least 232 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 a gymnasium for identification, police said.
Major ****** 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.
In addition to the number of deaths, more than 100 people were injured, police said, and most remain hospitalized.
Police officials had earlier reported that 245 people were killed. The death toll could still rise, police said later, from the people who are injured.
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.
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.
"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 was returning to Brazil following the blaze, her spokesperson said.
"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.
“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.
http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/west_bay/brazil-blaze-recalls-pain-for-ri-fire-survivors-nd13-jgr
Brazil blaze recalls pain for RI fire survivors
AP) - Argentina, a year later. Thailand in 2008. Russia in 2009.
For survivors of a 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire that was one of the deadliest in U.S. history, the fire in Brazil that killed hundreds Sunday is the latest in a series of reminders that no matter how far away, those who ignore the lessons of their tragedy can pay a horrible cost.
On a cold night in February 2003, the rock band Great White took the stage at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I. During the show, pyrotechnics set fire to flammable soundproofing foam that lined the walls and ceiling, killing 100 and injuring 200.
Over the decade since, survivors have come together time and again over news of similar disastrous fires overseas.
"We're very tight," said Todd King, one of the survivors. "You can't put into words what we saw."
He said he was woken up Sunday morning by a storm of text messages from others who survived the Rhode Island fire, asking, "Can you believe this is happening again?"
"I'm surprised nobody has learned," he said.
Another Rhode Island survivor, Victoria Eagan, said she and others noted that each of three earlier fires was caused by indoor pyrotechnics igniting with material in the building. Investigators have just begun their work in Brazil, but witnesses said a flare or firework lit by band members may have started the fire.
"I had the same reaction as the other three times," Eagan said Sunday. "We're doomed to repeat history and I wish they could learn."
In the year after the Rhode Island fire, a flare ignited ceiling foam at an overcrowded nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 194 people.
Indoor fireworks were blamed for a fire at a club in Bangkok on New Year's Eve 2008 in which 66 partygoers were killed.
And another indoor fireworks display at a nightclub in Perm, Russia, ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches, killing 152 people in December 2009.
In Rhode Island, the Station fire brought about sweeping changes to the state's fire code with one intent: Never again.
Sprinklers are now required in nightclubs and bars with occupancy limits of 100 or more, nightclub workers must be trained in fire safety and more money was set aside for fire safety classes in schools.
Rhode Island also banned pyrotechnics in all but its largest public venues and local fire marshals were enabled to order immediate repairs and write tickets for violations.
Eagan said the changes were necessary in Rhode Island.
"I wish it would spread to other countries," she said.
A deadly blaze overseas does not seem so distant because of the Rhode Island tragedy, Eagan said.
"It's a tragedy that hits close to home," she said. "It's maddening to see it happen again."
Brazil blaze recalls pain for RI fire survivors
AP) - Argentina, a year later. Thailand in 2008. Russia in 2009.
For survivors of a 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire that was one of the deadliest in U.S. history, the fire in Brazil that killed hundreds Sunday is the latest in a series of reminders that no matter how far away, those who ignore the lessons of their tragedy can pay a horrible cost.
On a cold night in February 2003, the rock band Great White took the stage at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I. During the show, pyrotechnics set fire to flammable soundproofing foam that lined the walls and ceiling, killing 100 and injuring 200.
Over the decade since, survivors have come together time and again over news of similar disastrous fires overseas.
"We're very tight," said Todd King, one of the survivors. "You can't put into words what we saw."
He said he was woken up Sunday morning by a storm of text messages from others who survived the Rhode Island fire, asking, "Can you believe this is happening again?"
"I'm surprised nobody has learned," he said.
Another Rhode Island survivor, Victoria Eagan, said she and others noted that each of three earlier fires was caused by indoor pyrotechnics igniting with material in the building. Investigators have just begun their work in Brazil, but witnesses said a flare or firework lit by band members may have started the fire.
"I had the same reaction as the other three times," Eagan said Sunday. "We're doomed to repeat history and I wish they could learn."
In the year after the Rhode Island fire, a flare ignited ceiling foam at an overcrowded nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 194 people.
Indoor fireworks were blamed for a fire at a club in Bangkok on New Year's Eve 2008 in which 66 partygoers were killed.
And another indoor fireworks display at a nightclub in Perm, Russia, ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches, killing 152 people in December 2009.
In Rhode Island, the Station fire brought about sweeping changes to the state's fire code with one intent: Never again.
Sprinklers are now required in nightclubs and bars with occupancy limits of 100 or more, nightclub workers must be trained in fire safety and more money was set aside for fire safety classes in schools.
Rhode Island also banned pyrotechnics in all but its largest public venues and local fire marshals were enabled to order immediate repairs and write tickets for violations.
Eagan said the changes were necessary in Rhode Island.
"I wish it would spread to other countries," she said.
A deadly blaze overseas does not seem so distant because of the Rhode Island tragedy, Eagan said.
"It's a tragedy that hits close to home," she said. "It's maddening to see it happen again."
There was a similar fire in Ohio years ago that killed several hundred people. Not enuff exits as it turned out. How incredibly sad is this.
That blaze even changed laws here around use of pyrotechnics, etc. So very very horrible. I wish all of the families peace and healing...from both tragedies.
It still stings...It is VERY horrible that the same exact incident would happen again...Those families are forever changed..The Station Night club is a memorial now..The people of West Warwick will NOT let anyone build on it. If you drive by it, I swear you can still smell the remnants...The scene is still eerie..you can feel it...:(
I remember the Rhode Island nightclub blaze very very well. How horrible that something like that has been repeated. So very sad.
SO SAD...How horrible....
"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."
We are still trying to heal from this tragedy...It's hard to believe its been almost 10 yrs
"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."
We are still trying to heal from this tragedy...It's hard to believe its been almost 10 yrs
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