Tragedy in Brazil: The extinguishers did not work and the club had no authorization

January 28, 2013
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The Kiss nightclub, in which 238 people died early Sunday because of a fire, had not updated the fire prevention plan that had expired in August, and the qualifying.

The guitarist of Gurizada Fandangueira band, Rodrigo Lemos Martins, who was performing that night in Kiss said that one of the security guards at the club and a member of the band tried to put out the fire but extinguishers did not work. The newspaper has learned that one of the owners of Kiss admitted to the police that the license enabling the club was expired since last August, but said he was processing his renewal.

The Fire Department commander of the Central Region of Rio Grande do Sul, Lieutenant Colonel Moisés da Silva Fuchs had advanced that the premises did not have the qualifying, certifying the security.

The owners of the nightclub, which were identified by local authorities as Mauro Hoffman and Elisandro Spohr could be charged with manslaughter and arson.

The fire started at 2:30 on Sunday because of a fireworks that burned the material for soundproofing the club, which was hosting a party of students from the Federal University of Santa Maria.