Brazil: At Least 180 People Killed in Disco Fire - Prensa Latina

27 de enero de 2013, 09:21Brasilia, Jan 27 (Prensa Latina) At least 180 people were killed and another 200 injured in a fire at a nightclub in Santa Maria, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, said the Fire Department.

It is the worst tragedy that has ever happened in Santa Maria city, said the chief of the local Fire Department, Guido Pedroso de Melo, according to a report from the O Globo television channel.

He explained the fire started at daybreak Sunday in Kiss Disco, 286 kilometers from Porto Alegre, the capital of the state, unleashing panic in the people who were inside the facility.

"Most people died due to the inhalation of the smoke and we are still looking for bodies; it is a sad event," he noted.

De Melo said fatalities could increase, because there are several seriously injured, and confirmed that Kiss had only one exit, which led to the high number of victims.

Fire fighters had to demolish a wall to get into the place and help people.

The municipal Health secretary said in a statement that many injured were transferred to a hospital in the outskirts of the city.

Some 1,000 to 1,500 people, mostly teenagers, were inside the disco when the fire started, according to estimates.

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