Murilo de Toledo Tiecher was taking a break from his med school studies last night to go clubbing at Kiss, a nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil. The night progressed rather smoothly until at about 2 a.m. a fire broke out. The fire was caused by the pyrotechnics of the live band. These flames quickly spread smoke throughout the nightclub; this smoke is what caused many of the deaths early this morning. There was clearly much confusion, especially amongst the the staff. Some reports say that the main doors were locked as a means of making sure everybody had paid for their drinks when they left. Murilo also said on Twitter that it wasn't until the security guards were pushed down till the guards understood what was happening. Ezequiel Corte Real said that he only made it out because he was strong and able to push his way out of the club. All day police and rescue wokers were pulling dead bodies, mostly college students, out of the wreckage. The current death toll for this tragic event is 232.
The immediate questions that come to mind are: Who's responsible for this? What measures could've been taken to save more lives? Should indoor pyrotechnics be banned?
This last question is taken form a poll on latimes.com in which 84% are voting yes with the remaining 16% voting no. I personally think that indoor pyrotechnics are fine, when managed appropriately. I saw the rock band KISS a couple of years ago at the Mid-America Center. KISS is know for their pyrotechnics, what with Gene Simmons shooting of a small firework off his guitar. This however was in a big open space with safety as probably the main concern. How I don't know much about nightclubs but this <https://irs2.4sqi.net/img/general/width960/JGCW2XPID0VBC4YGEBM2DMG1U5LRPJPA0CFCITW1N4T2VQQS.jpg> doesn't seem like the ideal place for pyrotechnics.
What are your thoughts?
Links:
New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/world/americas/brazil-nightclub-fire.html?hp&_r=0
LA Times article and poll: http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-brazil-club-fire-may-have-been-started-by-flare-20130127,0,7314817.story
Found the picture link here: https://foursquare.com/v/boate-kiss/4dbc4dd843a1d8504b87ed08
This last question is taken form a poll on latimes.com in which 84% are voting yes with the remaining 16% voting no. I personally think that indoor pyrotechnics are fine, when managed appropriately. I saw the rock band KISS a couple of years ago at the Mid-America Center. KISS is know for their pyrotechnics, what with Gene Simmons shooting of a small firework off his guitar. This however was in a big open space with safety as probably the main concern. How I don't know much about nightclubs but this <https://irs2.4sqi.net/img/general/width960/JGCW2XPID0VBC4YGEBM2DMG1U5LRPJPA0CFCITW1N4T2VQQS.jpg> doesn't seem like the ideal place for pyrotechnics.
What are your thoughts?
Links:
New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/world/americas/brazil-nightclub-fire.html?hp&_r=0
LA Times article and poll: http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-brazil-club-fire-may-have-been-started-by-flare-20130127,0,7314817.story
Found the picture link here: https://foursquare.com/v/boate-kiss/4dbc4dd843a1d8504b87ed08
I totally agree that pyrotechnics should not be banned even though this horrible tragedy was caused by it. It is obvious that certain safety protocols were not followed during this show and the reports that they locked the main doors to the place was just an accident waiting to happen. Even though this tragedy was horrid, it does not mean pyrotechnics should be banned for inside shows. There should be some new safety protocols or the current ones should be more strongly enforced.
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