RIO DE JANEIRO — A fire ignited by a flare from a rock band’s pyrotechnic spectacle swept through a nightclub filled with more than 1,000 university students early Sunday morning in Santa Maria, Brazil, leaving at least 233 people dead, police said.
Colonel Guido Pedroso de Melo, Fire Department commander in Santa Maria, said security guards had locked secondary exits, which intensified the panic as people in the club stampeded for the doors. Most of the victims died of smoke inhalation, investigators said.
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This is the most awful tragedy. Such loss. I couldn't imagine. As a parent of teens, it worries me so much that in a few years, they're going want to travel, study abroad and enjoynthe nightlife. Its frightening to think that this can happen again and again. I thought thatnthe Station Nightclub would have been a lesson for all rock bands and nightclub owners. my heart goes out to all those who lost their lives so young and so unneccesarily.