Deadly nightclub fire leaves Brazil mourning

A massive blaze at a nightclub in Brazil killed at least 233 people and left relatives desperately searching for loved ones as horrific accounts emerged of the tragic rush to escape the inferno.

Shocked survivors, mostly science students in the southern college town of Santa Maria, described a traumatic scene of blocked exits and rising flames, with scores of revelers being trampled or passing out from smoke inhalation.

A band's malfunctioning pyrotechnics triggered the fire early on Sunday, witnesses said, in an incident likely to raise concerns about public safety as Brazil prepares to host soccer's World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.

The fire regulations permit for the Kiss nightclub expired in August 2011, local media reported, citing the head of the country's fire department.

Santa Maria is west of Porto Alegre, one of the World Cup host cities. The fire led Brazil to quickly postpone an event dubbed "500 Days until World Cup-2014," planned for Monday in Brasilia, the federal capital.

Authorities said 233 people had been killed, with 116 more injured. Health Minister Alexandre Padilha said at a news conference the government's priority was "saving the lives that we still can save".

The tragedy appeared to be the world's deadliest such blaze in more than a decade.

"It was sheer horror. I lost a very dear friend. The emergency exits did not work, and then I lost my friend in the confusion," Mattheus Bortolotto, a young dentist, told local television.

"Then a girl died in my arms. I felt her heart stop beating. I had only ever seen something like that in the movies."

The pandemonium from inside the club soon spread to outside the building.

"The metal barriers they used to keep people in line on their way in ended up blocking people from getting out," Bortolotto said. "People were bumping into each other, crushing each other, falling down.

"And the people who were at the back of the club were simply trapped."

Reports said the fire broke out around 2 am local time when the nightclub was hosting a university party.

Survivor Michelle Pereira said a member of the band lifted a firework into the air, which set the ceiling on fire. The flames quickly engulfed the entire room.

Taynne Vendruscolo, another survivor, said: "Everyone was pushing and shoving. The fire started out small, but within seconds it exploded. Those who were close to the stage could not get out."

Santa Maria fire chief Guido de Melo said the fire caused widespread panic, and that many revelers were stepped on or died from smoke fumes. He said club security had blocked people from leaving, sparking a stampede.

Firefighters doused the blackened shell of a red brick building with water and used sledgehammers to punch holes in the walls to get people out faster.

The town is home to the Federal University of Santa Maria.

Victims' bodies were taken to a sports stadium that was then blocked off by police to keep grieving family members, many of them sobbing and some with soot-blackened faces, from streaming in.

Left outside, they waited for news of missing loved ones. "My son was killed. My son was killed," wailed one mother who came looking but only found his name on the list of the dead, and then passed out.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff cut short a visit to Chile, where she was attending a European and Latin American summit, to head to Santa Maria and oversee the response.

"It's a tragedy for all of us, and I cannot continue here at the summit, because my priority is the Brazilian people," the visibly emotional leader told reporters traveling with her in Santiago.

Agence France-Presse