Kiss nightclub fire
The shuttered nightclub with flowers and messages from mourners | |
| Date | 27 January 2013 |
|---|---|
| Time | Between 2:00 and 2:30 (BRST) |
| Location | Centro, Sede, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |
| Cause | Acoustic foam in the ceiling ignited. Fireworks-related accident. |
| Deaths | 242 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 630 |
On 27 January 2013, 242 people were killed and at least 630 others injured in a fire in the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The fire started between 2:00 and 2:30 a.m. (BRST) after a pyrotechnic ignited acoustic foam on the club's ceiling. As the electricity failed, clubgoers were unable to find the building's only exit. It is the second deadliest fire in Brazilian history, surpassed only by the Niterói circus fire of 1961.