Eight people have been charged in connection with the deadly nightclub fire in southern Brazil that killed 241 people earlier this year, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The Jan. 27 fire roared through the crowded, windowless Kiss nightclub in the city of Santa Maria, filling the air with flames and thick, toxic smoke.
Police have said the band performing at the club lit a flare that ignited flammable soundproofing foam on the ceiling, releasing a deadly combination of cyanide, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.
Prosecutor David Medina told a Tuesday news conference that the nightclub’s two owners and two band members were charged with murder.
“The owners of the nightclub and the members of the band were fully aware of the danger the public faced and could have foreseen the result, but they took no action or were indifferent to the risks,” Medina said. “Fireworks were used in a place that was completely inappropriate for any kind of flame. There was wood, curtain and unfortunately a lot of people.”
“There were insufficient and poorly lit exits,” he said.
Two firefighters who allegedly tried to show that the nightclub had passed safety inspection tests were charged with evidence tampering. Police have said that minimum safety and fire prevention measures were not in place. An accountant and a former partner of the nightclub were charged with perjury.
Brazilian authorities have often turned a blind eye to safety and infrastructure concerns about public gathering places. The disaster, the worst fire of its kind in more than a decade, raised questions about whether safety can be ensured in such venues as the country prepares to host next year’s soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
Prosecutors have asked police to investigate the involvement of four additional people in the nightclub fire. They are the mother and sister of one of the owners who are listed as partners in the nightclub and the two city officials who granted the club an operating permit.
Prosecutors filed the charges with a state judge who is expected to rule in about two weeks whether to accept the charges and bring those named to trial.
Police said on March 22 that the mayor and fire chief of Santa Maria could also be held responsible for the accident because of the faulty safety inspections of the nightclub.
However, because mayor Cezar Schirmer is an elected official, only the Rio Grande do Sul State Supreme Court and the city’s legislature can determine if he will be charged. Only a military court can charge the fire chief, because the department is under the control of the police, which is part of the military.
Kiss apparently had no alarm or sprinkler system and only one working exit, leaving the crowd to search desperately for a way out.
About 50 victims were found in the club’s two bathrooms, where they crowded after blinding smoke evidently caused them to believe the doors were exits.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese