SANTA MARIA, Brazil — Authorities have detained four people in connection with a fire that ripped through the packed Kiss nightclub in this southern Brazil city in the early morning hours of Sunday, Jan. 27, killing 237. A small pyro display is being implicated as the cause. Early reports suggest that some kind of pyro device ignited foam sound insulation material on the ceiling, and that a crowd of college-aged revelers stampeded and were suffocated within minutes by the resulting smoke and fumes.
Five of the six members of the band performing at the time, Gurizada Fandangueira, survived and were able to relay the details about how the fire started to officials, but one band member died after attempting to re-enter the nightclub to retrieve an accordion, according to press reports.
There were also reports of security personnel blocking exits temporarily, and of bodies blocking the entrance, preventing emergency personnel from reaching victims. Most were reported to have died at the scene, with at least one victim succumbing after being brought to a hospital. More than 120 were hospitalized.
The four detainees were reported to include two band members and two co-owners of the club.
Similar tragedies have recurred throughout the world.
The 2003 fire that killed 100 people at the Station nightclub in West Warwick, RI got started when pyro (gerbs) lit by the band’s tour manager ignited foam insulation in the walls and ceiling near the stage. It took less than six minutes for that blaze to engulf the club, with a stampede-blocked exit adding to the death toll.
A 2009 fire at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia, was caused by fireworks igniting plastic decorations on the ceiling; 152 died as a result. Another celebration where fireworks ignited ceiling décor occurred in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s República Cromañón nightclub in 2004; the death toll there was 194.
