Fire at Kiss Nightclub: 10 years of sadness and impunity

The fire at the Kiss nightclub completes ten years this Friday (27). The tragedy caused the death of 242 people, more than 600 were injured and moves the country to this day, without any defendant being held accountable. The drama began around three in the morning on January 27, 2013, when the lead singer of the band Gurizada Fandangueira, Marcelo de Jesus dos Santos, lit a pyrotechnic object inside the nightclub, in Santa Maria, in Rio Grande do Sul. The ceiling foam was hit by sparks and started to burn. The toxic fumes made people pass out within seconds. The site was overcrowded, did not have equipment to fight the fire, not enough emergency exits. People who were unable to leave and others who had left but came back to help died. The regional delegate of Santa Maria, Sandro Luiz Mainers, said that panic set in when the smoke spread and the light went out. People did not know how to escape. “And that made some people, deceived by two luminous signs that were over the restrooms of the club, run towards the restrooms and not towards the door. So, there was an ebb and flow. Some ran to the restroom and others tried to run towards the entrance door. This caused many people to die because some ended up being knocked down, some fell,” he reported. In addition to the lack of signage, those who tried to leave bumped into the guardrails that served to direct people to the cashier of the nightclub, said the delegate. “And the guardrails were decisive because we found bodies lying on these guardrails”, he said. Report Journalist Dilan Araújo covered the radio for EBC when the fire happened. He said that family members went to a gym in the city to look for information and recognize the victims. “And, therefore, from time to time, we heard the disconsolate screams, right? Breaking that atmosphere of silence and tension, other family members tried to console those who were in an emotion. Of greater despair. And there was also the anguish of those that were still without news”, he concluded.

Agência Brasil