Brazil fire


A firefighter carries a body as he runs from a fire that broke out at a disco in Santa Maria, Brazil, early Sunday.

(Germano Rorato / EPA / January 27, 2013)





































































BRASILIA, Brazil—





Firefighters say that the death toll from a fire that swept through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil has risen to 180.

Officials say the fire broke out at the Kiss club in the city of Santa Maria while a band was performing. At least 200 people have been injured, said police spokesman Sandro Meinerz.


The cause of the fire is not yet known.





Civil Police and regional government spokesman Marcelo Arigoni told Radio Gaucha that a truck carrying 70 bodies had arrived at the Municipal Sports Centre, which was being used as an improvised morgue.