Brazil Nightclub Fire Kills At Least 232 People

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade. Witnesses said a flare or firework lit by band members started the blaze in Santa Maria, a university city of about 225,000 people, though officials said the cause was still under investigation. Television images showed smoke pouring out of the Kiss nightclub as shirtless young men who had attended a university party joined firefighters using axes and sledgehammers to pound at windows and walls to free those trapped inside. Guido Pedroso Melo, commander of the city's fire department, told the O Globo newspaper that firefighters had a hard time getting inside the club because "there was a barrier of bodies blocking the entrance." Teenagers sprinted from the scene desperately seeking help. Others carried injured and burned friends away in their arms. "There was so much smoke and fire, it was complete panic, and it took a long time for people to get out, there were so many dead," survivor Luana Santos Silva told the Globo TV network. The fire spread so fast inside the packed club that firefighters and ambulances could do little to stop it, Silva said. Another survivor, Michele Pereira, told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that she was near the stage when members of the band lit flares that started the conflagration. "The band that was onstage began to use flares and, suddenly, they stopped the show and pointed them upward," she said. "At that point, the ceiling caught fire. It was really weak, but in a matter of seconds it spread." Guitarist Rodrigo Martins told Radio Gaucha that the band, Gurizada Fandangueira, started playing at 2:15 a.m. "and we had played around five songs when I looked up and noticed the roof was burning" "It might have happened because of the Sputnik, the machine we use to create a luminous effect with sparks. It's harmless, we never had any trouble with it. "When the fire started, a guard passed us a fire extinguisher, the singer tried to use it but it wasn't working" He confirmed that accordion player Danilo Jacques, 28, died, while the five other members made it out safely. Police Maj. Cleberson Braida Bastianello said by telephone that the toll had risen to 233 with the death of a hospitalized victim – he said earlier that the death toll was likely made worse because the nightclub appeared to have just one exit through which patrons could exit. Officials counted 232 bodies that had been brought for identification to a gymnasium in Santa Maria, which is located at the southern tip of Brazil, near the borders with Argentina and Uruguay. Federal Health Minister Alexandre Padhilha told a news conference that most of the 117 people treated in hospitals had been poisoned by gases they breathed during the fire. Only a few suffered serious burns, he said. Brazil President Dilma Roussef arrived to visit the injured after cutting short her trip to a Latin American-European summit in Chile. "It is a tragedy for all of us," Roussef said. Most of the dead apparently were asphyxiated, according to Dr. Paulo Afonso Beltrame, a professor at the medical school of the Federal University of Santa Maria who went to the city's Caridade Hospital to help victims. Beltrame said he was told the club had been filled far beyond its capacity during a party for students at the university's agronomy department. Survivors, police and firefighters gave the same account of a band member setting the ceiling's soundproofing ablaze, he said. "Large amounts of toxic smoke quickly filled the room, and I would say that at least 90 percent of the victims died of asphyxiation," Beltrame told The Associated Press by telephone. "The toxic smoke made people lose their sense of direction so they were unable to find their way to the exit. At least 50 bodies were found inside a bathroom. Apparently they confused the bathroom door with the exit door." In the hospital, the doctor "saw desperate friends and relatives walking and running down the corridors looking for information," he said, calling it "one of the saddest scenes I have ever witnessed." Rodrigo Moura, identified by the newspaper Diario de Santa Maria 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. Santa Maria Mayor Cezar Schirmer declared a 30-day mourning period, and Tarso Genro, the governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, said officials were investigating the cause of the disaster. The blaze was the deadliest in Brazil since at least 1961, when a fire that swept through a circus killed 503 people in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro. Sunday's fire also appeared to be the worst at a nightclub since December 2000, when a welding accident reportedly set off a fire at a club in Luoyang, China, killing 309. In 2004, at least 194 people died in a fire at an overcrowded nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Seven members of a band were sentenced to prison for starting the flames. Several years later, in December 2009, a blaze at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia, killed 152 people after an indoor fireworks display ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches. Similar circumstances led to a 2003 nightclub fire that killed 100 people in the United States. Pyrotechnics used as a stage prop by the 1980s rock band Great White set ablaze cheap soundproofing foam on the walls and ceiling of a Rhode Island music venue. The band performing in Santa Maria, Gurizada Fandangueira, plays a driving mixture of local Brazilian country music styles. Guitarist Martin told Radio Gaucha the musicians are already seeing hostile messages. "People on the social networks are saying we have to pay for what happened," he said. "I'm afraid there could be retaliation". ___ Sibaja reported from Brasilia. Associated Press Writer Stan Lehman and Bradley Brooks contributed to this report from Sao Paulo. Story from: Huffington Post

INTERVIEW WITH LMFAO

“We got into Dj-ing real heavily because we wanted to really wanted play our shit”

LMFAO also known as Redfoo and Sky Blu have been getting the party started with their smash hit “I’m In Miami Bitch!”. So how did they get the name LMFAO? “While searching for a name for his Electro/Hip-Hop group, Sky Blu decided to shoot an iChat message to his grandmother with the latest idea, seeking her opinion. "Our new name is gonna be Sexy Dudes...what do you think of that?" Grandma Goodfoot replied, "LMFAO". The two knew grandma was on to something”. If that is not enough check out the origins for their names. Sky Blu (his given name is Sky and the sky is Blu, after all) and Redfoo (the Red symbolizes his passion, and the fact that he acts a Foo.... in bed). While the tour schedule has stayed packed the duo were able to take the time to get with INTRO.

INTRO: How did you guys end up on Will.I.Am's label?

LMFAO: Well, we grew up with Will and we have been friends for a long time. He was familiar with our project and the internet buzz was pretty crazy so Will called us and said “We should be on his Goddamn label. Black Eyed Peas”. Through a long process we ended up on the label.

INTRO: Did you expect the song "I'm in Miami Bitch" to take off the way that it has?

LMFAO: Hell Yeah! No! We were surprised at the longevity of the song. We now realize what it is. We have made a classic kind of song for a traveler to Miami and has that feeling of being in paradise. I’m in Miami Bitch! Actually it’s really done way over what we init-ially thought but as we analyze we realize what the song could be. It’s really becoming that great song

INTRO: I know that this song has an electro pop feel. Is this the particular style that we can expect coming from your album?

LMFAO: It has a POP feel but it also has a jazz feel. There are a lot of feels on the album. Its all party but its different types of party. We have B-more on the album. We have songs on the album like “Lil Hipster Girl” that are a little more aggressive. It represents one side of the party. If we are talking club terms Miami is like the dance floor. You got the bathroom that you take the Freakies you know after the drinks. We are building a club. Its part of the layout baby.

INTRO: How long have the two of you been working together?

LMFAO: On this project we have been working together on this project for 3yrs. Well 2yrs. No wait a little over two years but we have always been working together on things. You know hanging out and vibing. We was selling t-shrts before. It was always a hustle.

INTRO: What other artists have you worked with?
Continued pg 14


LMFAO: Lil John, Pitbull, Paradiso classic kind of song for a traveler to Miami and has that feeling of being in Girls. Done a lot of remixes. You really don’t get to work with the artists on that. We have also worked wit Eric Deluxe.

INTRO: How did you make the transition from Djs to artist?

LMFAO: We have always been artists. We made the transition from actually we have been artists and producers first. Dj-ing is a way to solicit new music. We got into Dj-ing real heavily because we wanted to really wanted play our shit in the clubs. We didn’t really know that many Djs ourselves we said that we have to do it ourselves. We have to D. I. Y. So we started playing our own music and songs in the same type of lane like electro and we tried to break that sound in the mainstream clubs in Hollywood and thats how we did it you know. It started catching on and we started writing more and more songs about our experiences in the club. We started getting ideas from the blogs. Stuff like that .

FOR MORE INFO ON LMFAO:
www.myspace.com/lmfao
MAY/JUNE 2009