Kiss nightclub fire

The fire in a nightclub Kiss occurred on the night of 26th to January 27th, 2013 around 2:30 clock in the town of Santa Maria in the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul. Here, 242 people died and more than 600 others were injured, some seriously. The fire is considered by the circus fire in Niterói (1961 ) with about 500 dead as the second heaviest fire disaster in the history of Brazil.

Fire cause and situation in the night club

The cause of the fire disaster an inflamed at a gig the band Gurizada Fandangueira fireworks is suspected. Sparks a flare had probably set the insulating material of the ceiling of the function room on fire.

The nightclub Kiss is located in the city center on Rua dos Andradas 1955. The meeting room of the club had a capacity of 2000 people. According to some Brazilian media but he was only designed for a maximum of 1000 people. At the time of the accident according to police figures, about 900 people were at the nightclub.

There was next to the main entrance only one emergency exit, in addition to the security forces have been overwhelmed by eyewitness reports with the situation. The attempt of a security man to extinguish the fire is said to be failed because of fire extinguishers used did not work. The security guards opened the main door until they were sure that fire had broken out. As is customary in Brazil to pay the entrance fee and the drinks only when leaving clubs and music bars, they feared, visitors could cheat the bill. For the same reason the only exit was narrowed by iron roulette and grid. The narrowing of the two -meter-wide entrance and exit door and fluchterschwerende iron railings outside have contributed to the tragedy. The safety approval for the nightclub part of the Fire Department of Santa Maria was by its own account expired in August 2012. Further investigations are still pending.

Course

The victims of the disaster were mostly young students of the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, since that night a university party had taken place in the nightclub. The fire spread in seconds at the ceiling. In the dense, black, highly toxic smoke, the night clubbers lost its way, many were immediately victims of the toxic fumes. Many visitors were kicked to the ground and lost consciousness. Others died in the two toilets of smoke inhalation.

Reactions

• The State President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, her participation in the CELAC - EU conference in Santiago de Chile broke due to the disaster prematurely.
• The prefect of Santa Maria, Cezar Schirmer, announced a mourning 30 days.
• The Football League of the State of Rio Grande Sul decided to pause for a game day.
• In Brasília planned for January 28 celebration of the upcoming soccer World Cup was canceled.