Hundreds killed in Brazilian Nightclub Fire

[jimmy olsen]

Mentioned in the OTT, but I think deserving of its own thread given the potential death toll here.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/27/world/americas/brazil-nightclub-fire/index.html

Sao Paulo, Brazil (CNN) -- A fire swept through a popular nightclub in southern Brazil on Sunday, killing at least 245 people, state media reported, citing police.

The death toll was expected to climb as firefighters continued to pull bodies from the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, said Col. Adilomar Silva, the regional coordinator of civil defense.

Most of those killed appeared to have died of smoke inhalation, Silva said. Hundreds are believed to have been injured, though an exact count was not immediately available.

Many people were trampled in the panic to leave the club, one security guard told CNN affiliate Band News.

Families and friends searching for information were outside a nearby sporting complex, where bodies were taken for identification, the state-run Agencia Brasil reported.

Police described it as the worst tragedy ever to affect Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state, Band News said.

The fire started at about 2 a.m. after the acoustic insulation in the Kiss nightclub caught fire, Silva said.

There was a pyrotechnics show going on inside the club when the fire started. Authorities stopped short of blaming it for the blaze, saying the cause was still under investigation.

The incident called to mind a 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island where pyrotechnics used by the heavy metal band Great White ignited a blaze that killed more than 90 people.

Pyrotechnics were also involved in a 2004 night club fire in Argentina that killed 194 people and a 2009 explosion at a night club in Russia that left more than 100 dead.

The Kiss nightclub is popular with young people in Santa Maria, drawing between 2,000 and 3,000 people a night on the weekends.

The blaze broke out during a weekend when students were celebrating the end of summer. Students at many Brazilian universities return to school on Monday.

Santa Maria is home to the Federal University of Santa Maria as well as a number of other private universities and colleges.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who has been in Chile for a regional summit, was expected to come to Rio Grande do Sul, the state government said in a statement.

[Phillip V]

Reminder that while having fun with a bunch of people, you are probably also in a death trap.

How fast does smoke inhalation kill?

[Caliga]

When I used to live in a Brazilian neighborhood most of the folks were originally from Rio Grande do Sul.

[mongers]

Yeah never been a fan of putting my safety in the hands or random people who get more money by stuffing lots of people into one place, not a fan of large groups of people. 

[Kleves]

That's what they get for inviting Great White to play.

[Martinus]

Yeah never been a fan of putting my safety in the hands or random people who get more money by stuffing lots of people into one place, not a fan of large groups of people. 

Yeah, explain your antisocial disorder by a need to avoid dangers where risk of them happening is lower than dying in your own bathtub. 

[Eddie Teach]

Yeah never been a fan of putting my safety in the hands or random people who get more money by stuffing lots of people into one place, not a fan of large groups of people. 

Yeah, explain your antisocial disorder by a need to avoid dangers where risk of them happening is lower than dying in your own bathtub. 

Works for me. 

[mongers]

Yeah never been a fan of putting my safety in the hands or random people who get more money by stuffing lots of people into one place, not a fan of large groups of people. 

Yeah, explain your antisocial disorder by a need to avoid dangers where risk of them happening is lower than dying in your own bathtub. 

I'm sorry you were bullied at school, but trying to compensate for that by posting here isn't really working, as there are probably more than a few like myself who don't give a rats arse about your opinions on well most all things.

Have a nice day. 

[Ed Anger]

He's going to send a demon after you now.

[Duque de Bragança]

The worst part was listening on Record TV to the Brazilian pronunciation of boîte (de nuit), the French word they use for night-club. Something like "bwatchee"

[Caliga]

chorizo = shee-reese

[Duque de Bragança]

chorizo = shee-reese

That's in Spanish.
It would be chouriço anyways, even for the Brazilians.