5

6

　　The death toll from a fire early Sunday in a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil was lowered to 233, a police spokesman said。

　　Fire-fighters try to extinguish a fire at Kiss nightclub in the southern city of Santa Maria, 187 miles (301 km) west of the state capital of Porto Alegre, in this picture taken by Agencia RBS, Jan27, 2013. [Photo: Agencies]

　　Flare used by band ignites ceiling as youths stampede to the only exit。

　　Bodies were still being removed from the Kiss nightclub in the southern city of Santa Maria, Major Gerson da Rosa Ferreira, who was leading rescue efforts at the scene for the military police, told Reuters。

　　The cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed, officials said. The total number of victims is still unclear and there may be hundreds injured, Civil Police and regional government spokesman Marcelo Arigoni told Radio Gaucha。

　　Arigoni told the radio station a truck carrying 70 bodies had arrived at the Municipal Sports Center, which was being used as an improvised morgue。

　　Ferreira, the Major, said 159 bodies had been removed, and the death toll was likely to rise above 200. He said the victims died of asphyxiation or from being trampled, and there were as many as 500 people inside the club when the fire broke out。

　　Luiza Sousa, a civil police official in Santa Maria, said the blaze started when a member of the band or its production team ignited a flare, which then set fire to the ceiling. The fire spread "in seconds", Sousa said。

　　The fire developed fast and there was only one exit, which caused some trampling as partygoers tried to escape。

　　Reports said the nightclub, which can hold 2,000 people, was popular among local youths and college students。

　　Rodrigo Moura, whom the Brazilian newspaper Diario de Santa Maria identified as a security guard at the club, said it was at its maximum capacity of between 1,000 and 2,000, and partygoers were pushing and shoving to escape. Ezekiel Corte Real, 23, was quoted by the paper saying he helped people escape. "I just got out because I'm very strong," he said。

　　Rio Grande do Sul state Health Secretary Ciro Simoni said respirators from all over the state were being sent to the scene. Santa Maria is some 300 km west of the state capital of Porto Alegre. "A sad Sunday!" tweeted Rio Grande do Sul Governor Tarso Genro. He said "all possible measures" were being taken and that he was on his way to the scene。

　　Santa Maria is located at the southern tip of Brazil near the borders with Argentina and Uruguay. It is a major university city with a population of around a quarter of a million。

　　巴西南里奥格兰德州州政府27日傍晚将夜总会火灾造成的死亡人数从245人修正为233人。此外，还有106名伤员正在医院接受治疗。

　　南里奥格兰德州公安厅在其官方网站上公布了185名已确认身份的遇难者名单。目前，所有遇难者遗体都安放在圣玛丽亚市体育中心的体育馆内，死者身份鉴定工作正在紧张进行，州公安厅将每小时更新一次遇难者名单。

　　巴西总统罗塞夫27日中断出席在智利举行的国际会议，于当天下午赶到圣玛丽亚市，到医院看望了受伤人员并向遇难者家属表示慰问。她还宣布，将为此次事件遇难者举行为期三天的全国哀悼。

　　27日凌晨，位于圣玛丽亚市中心一家名为“吻”的夜总会发生严重火灾，造成巴西近50年来在火灾事故中死亡人数最多的惨剧。

　　报道说，大火是由烟花表演引起的。该夜总会里当时有2000多人。死亡人数还可能增加。

　　巴西夜店大火多数死者死于窒息踩踏

　　当地警方表示，目前火灾死亡人数仍在统计中，目前已确认至少有200多人死亡。警方同时表示，死者多因大火产生的浓烟窒息死亡，部分死者是在逃生过程中被人群踩踏而死。负责消防工作的指挥官奇诺·梅洛对英国广播公司的记者表示，警方和消防人员仍在现场寻找伤亡者，不断有遗体从夜店中抬出来。

　　“现在我们也不能确定到底有多少人死亡，我们仍在和警方一起搜寻死伤者，”梅洛称：“我们从死者的状态可以看出，突然起火引发现场人群恐慌，导致逃生过程中多人被踩踏而亡。”

　　巴西大火233死多为大学生 保安曾锁大门拒放行

　　起火原因警方还在进行调查，但是大家公认首要原因就是乐队歌手违规在舞台上燃放烟花，这是巴西法律明确禁止的。正是因为烟花的火花引燃了屋顶隔音泡沫材料使大火迅速蔓延。

　　第二，缺少紧急出口，据了解，这家可容纳近2000人的夜店只有一个入口和一个紧急出口，而且没有醒目的指示灯引引导逃生，因此，救援人员不得不用工具在墙上凿洞救人。

　　第三，场内人数过多，虽然目前还没有场内人数的官方数字，但是警方认为很可能超过了规定的人数，因为幸存者都说场内十分拥挤，逃生的时候十分困难，不少人摔倒后被踩死踩伤。

　　第四，也是最关键的一点，就是政府有关部门监管不严，这个夜店营业执照去年8月就已经到期，但仍在经营，夜店内灭火器灯光设备和紧急出口等安全设施没有经过年检，保安人员缺乏安全培训，火灾苗头出现之后，他们不但没有正确引导顾客迅速逃生，而且还锁上大门要求顾客交完费才能走，初步认为这是一个非常重要的原因。