245 PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN A FIRE

 Photo By. BBC
 

At least 245 people have died in a fire that swept through a nightclub in a university city in southern Brazil, police and officials say.

Local media say the fire began when a band let off fireworks at the Kiss club in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul.

Reports say panic spread as people tried to get out. Many victims reportedly died from inhaling toxic fumes or from being crushed.

The fire is now out and bodies are being removed from the scene.

President Dilma Rousseff, who cut short a visit to Chile and was returning to Brazil, said everything possible would be done to help the injured and the families of the victims.

I would also like to say to the Brazilian people and to the people of Santa Maria that we stand together at this time, and that even though there's a lot of sadness, we will pull through," she said, speaking from Chile.

In a tweet, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Tarso Genro, said it was a "sad Sunday" and that all possible action was being taken in response to the fire. He would be in the city later on Sunday, he added.