Brazil sentenced in Kiss nightclub fire that killed 242 people

The Brazilian Porto Alegre court has sentenced four defendants in the 2013 Kiss nightclub fire. Then hundreds of people died.

Two owners of the establishment, as well as the soloist and administrator of the musical group Gurizada Fandangueira, who performed that evening with a concert, were found guilty of the mass death of the club’s visitors. informs G1. Club owners Elissandro Spohr and Mauro Hoffmann were sentenced to 22 and 19 years in prison, respectively, while musicians Marcelo de Jesus dos Santos and Luciano Bonilla Leao received 18 years in prison.

A fire at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul state began at about 03:00 on January 27, 2013. At that moment, a disco was held in the institution, which was attended by students of the local university.

According to eyewitnesses, the fire broke out during a performance by a musical group that staged a pyrotechnic show on the stage. The sparks ignited the soundproofing on the ceiling, and from the smoke with toxic gases, people began to suffocate. Panic and crush began in the filled room. There were up to 2 thousand people in the nightclub at that moment. Of these, 242 people died and 636 were injured.

In the course of the investigation, it turned out that the fire extinguishing system did not work in the Brazilian nightclub, the system of emergency signs was poorly arranged, and there were only two emergency exits.

The fire at the Santa Maria Club was the second most fatal tragedy in Brazil during entertainment events. In 1961, a fire in the Niteroi circus in the state of Rio de Janeiro killed 503 people.