Dozens die in nightclub fire in Santa Maria, Brazil

[Dolfagr]

The worst part is that most of them were young people, who had most of their lives ahead. I hope this incident will not affect the tourists who are planning to visit Brazil for the World Cup on the other hand...

[JayL]

The worst part is that most of them were young people, who had most of their lives ahead. I hope this incident will not affect the tourists who are planning to visit Brazil for the World Cup on the other hand...

The only way this will get to tourists is if they assume Brazilian nightclubs are safe or quality-checked...

[Batta]

You can call it in many ways, but not accident.

An accident happens when you don't expect it and all the safety measures are taken. This was obviously not the case.

There were many facts that led to this:

1. Fireworks inside a building.. genius.
2. Not enough emergency exits.
3. Too many people.
4. Owners locking exits to prever people from getting out without paying (if confirmed).

We obviously have to be sorry for what happened but shouldn't watch it as a natural calamity. Someone has big faults here.

[Leonardo]

The worst part is that most of them were young people, who had most of their lives ahead. I hope this incident will not affect the tourists who are planning to visit Brazil for the World Cup on the other hand...

Actually, the majority of the public in this club were students of the Federal University of Santa Maria, who were attending courses of the most varied things (Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Biology, Law, Architecture, Civil Engineering and more..)

The only way this will get to tourists is if they assume Brazilian nightclubs are safe or quality-checked...

The last charter emitted of the club was in August, 2012. There we have the scapegoating of the media.

[JayL]

The last charter emitted of the club was in August, 2012. There we have the scapegoating of the media.

It's not just nightclubs. It is a part of the Brazilian culture this lack of worry about the quality of things. Public and private services as a whole are all plagued by this. And even if this nightclub had OK papers, the owners most certainly bribed their way in (easy thing to do)...

[Boozman]

This is getting out of control. There should be a nationwide ban on fires in Brazil...

[Pandalink]

How the f**k do this many people manage to die in a fire? :trust:

By having a shitty number of fire doors.

This is why there are meant to be numerous fire doors, especially in a venue with a 2000 person capacity.

This is getting out of control. There should be a nationwide ban on fires in Brazil...

oic

[Batta]

Gary Duffy:

The priority of course is to identify the victims and to support their families. But urgent questions are already being asked about how a tragedy of this scale was allowed to happen.

Is it true that a flare was lit during a performance on stage and this started the fire - and was this authorised? Who was responsible for ensuring this club had adequate exits, and again is it true that only one was available at the time of the tragedy, as some have claimed.

There will be pressure for these public safety issues to be urgently addressed, both for the sake of the victims, and as Brazil prepares to stage a series of major international sporting events over the next four years.


'Ceiling on fire'

The fire broke out some time after 02:00 (04:00 GMT) when between 300 and 500 people are believed to have been in the club, where a band was playing.

Thick smoke engulfed the venue after acoustic insulation caught fire, officials say.


"We looked up at the ceiling in front of the stage and it was catching fire," eyewitness Luana Santos Silva, 23, told Brazil's Globo TV.

"My sister grabbed me and dragged me out on the ground."

The exit, she said, was a "small door for lots of people to come out by".

The young woman's sister, Aline Santos Silva, 29, added: "We managed to see it in time and to get out quickly, before the smoke began to spread.

"The smoke spread really quickly, it didn't give enough time for people to get out. I think people started to feel unwell, and then they began to come out covered in black smoke stains."

The witness commended the emergency services: "Help arrived really quickly, ambulances, police."

Fire crews tried knocking through an exterior wall to help those trapped inside to escape.

Fifty bodies were found in the club's toilets, a doctor told AP news agency.

"The toxic smoke made people lose their sense of direction so they were unable to find their way to the exit," said Dr Paulo Afonso Beltrame, speaking by phone from Caridade hospital.

"Apparently they confused the bathroom door with the exit door."

Speaking to BBC Brasil, Sergeant Arthur Rigue, from the local fire department, said: "I never witnessed a tragedy like this in my whole career.

"These people are so young… There were many bodies piled up in various parts of the place. Some were in the toilet. They died of asphyxiation."

Fire chief Guido de Melo told local media. "People started panicking and ended up treading on each other."


Other nightclub fires:

2009: Santika Club, Bangkok, Thailand - sparked by fireworks; 66 killed
2009: Lame Horse Club, Perm, Russia - sparked by fireworks; 150 killed
2004: Cromagnon Republic Club, Buenos Aires, Argentina - flare starts fire which kills 194
2003: The Station, Rhode Island, US - sparked by fireworks; 100 killed
2000: Luoyang dance hall fire, China - fire blamed on welders kills 309
1996: Ozone Disco Club, Quezon City, Philippines - 160 killed
1990: Happy Land, New York, US - arson kills 89 at unlicensed club
1977: Beverly Hills Supper Club, Southgate, Kentucky - 165 killed
1970: Club 5-7, Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, France - 146 killed;
1942: Cocoanut Grove, Boston, US - 492 killed.

[SugarD]

You can call it in many ways, but not accident.

An accident happens when you don't expect it and all the safety measures are taken. This was obviously not the case.

There were many facts that led to this:

1. Fireworks inside a building.. genius.
2. Not enough emergency exits.
3. Too many people.
4. Owners locking exits to prever people from getting out without paying (if confirmed).

Agreed. Just from reading the first couple posts, the first three points you made were already obvious to me. I'm not a Fire Marshal or Inspector. If it's that obvious to me, it should have been common sense to anyone else there. This never needed to happen.

[Antonio.]

2,000 people fit in a night club though?

Not every night clubs are the same... what the fuck are you posting?

[Mikal]

Not every night clubs are the same... what the f**k are you posting?

What do you mean what am I posting? :poke:

[Batta]

it should have been common sense to anyone else there.

Why do you need to listen to your common sense when you can simply go around rules and get more money spending less? That's how they thought.

Now they should receive an examplary punition.

As it usually happens for tragedies of this level, this should at least start a campaign of security measures checks and/or improve the laws and regular checks on activities.

Note that this was also probably caused by corruption. The night club didn't have/shouldn't have had any permissions. Why were they still running then? Obviously someone had his interests to keep it open.


Updates:

Three people were arrested over the fire, unconfirmed local reports said.

Police on Monday arrested two musicians from the band, Gurizada Fandangueira, and one of the club's owners, the website of the Diario de Santa Maria newspaper reported. A fourth person was being sought, the paper said.

[Leonardo]

Why do you need to listen to your common sense when you can simply go around rules and get more money spending less? That's how they thought.

Now they should receive an examplary punition.

As it usually happens for tragedies of this level, this should at least start a campaign of security measures checks and/or improve the laws and regular checks on activities.

Note that this was also probably caused by corruption. The night club didn't have/shouldn't have had any permissions. Why were they still running then? Obviously someone had his interests to keep it open.

As the news say, the band whose fireworks were used during the show, used to play in a weekly basis in the club, using the same pyrotechnics and stuff. That was a fatality, but it's just plain stupid that something that can spare a flame so easily is even allowed INDOORS, specially when the soundproofing material was made of spume...

And yeah - the charter of the club was also outdated, which can be blamed on also, but it's not the main cause. It's what Jay said - things run like that in Brazil.

Much likely, the media will keep pressing on the same key, the government will mobilize a program to have a tougher supervision and that will last on for about 3 months. Then, everyone will forget about it.

[JayL]

Why do you need to listen to your common sense when you can simply go around rules and get more money spending less? That's how they thought.

Yes.

Now they should receive an examplary punition.

Doubtfully. Only poor people get arrested in Brazil. The only medium-class/rich people who are sitting for longer than 1 year in prison are those whose punishment came out of social pressure. And even then, I don't think it'll be the same in this case.

As it usually happens for tragedies of this level, this should at least start a campaign of security measures checks and/or improve the laws and regular checks on activities.

According to authorities the current regulations did not permit such a show to take place. Use of fireworks is not permitted in large indoor gatherings.

Note that this was also probably caused by corruption. The night club didn't have/shouldn't have had any permissions. Why were they still running then? Obviously someone had his interests to keep it open.

It definitely was. The firefighter corps and the local government are already blaming each other for the lack of quality-checking... not to mention how absurdly easy it is to bribe your way into this sort of thing.

[Dolfagr]

I read that when the fire erupted people were not allowed to exit unless they have paid which caused many deaths and time wasting..