Scores Killed In Brazilian Nightclub Blaze

Keywords:

At least 180 people are dead Sunday following a nightclub fire in southern Brazil.

The fire broke out during a college party at Kiss, a nightclub in Santa Maria, in Rio Grande do Sul, the country's southernmost state.

The Associated Press reports that at least 200 people were injured.

The O Globo newspaper says between 300 and 400 people were on site at the time. Officials say the fire began at around 2:30 a.m. when a band was performing.

O Globo said the club had only one exit, and those inside panicked as they tried to get out. Firefighters opened a hole in the outer wall to allow more people to escape.

We'll have more details about the death toll and the cause of the fire as we they emerge.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Listen to us on: 88.5 FM Amherst / Springfield / Hartford | 101.1 FM Adams / North Adams | 98.7 FM Great Barrington | 98.3 FM Lee | 106.1 FM Pittsfield / Lenox | 96.3 FM Williamstown | AM 640 all-news WNNZ, Westfield | 91.7 FM all-news WNNZ, Deerfield | 88.5-HD WFCR in HD | 88.5-HD2 all-classical in HD