Security guards tried to stopmerrymakers escaping from a Brazil nightclub as a fire ravaged through the building killing over 230 people. People were reportedly screaming 'there's a fire' but were trapped inside the burning building.About 2,000 people, mostly students were in the Kiss nightclub om Santa Maria, southern Brazil, when the fire started.Witnesses said the club's ceiling, which contained sound insulation foam, caught fire after a pyrotechnic stunt went wrong. Most of the victims died of suffocation or were trampled in a stampede for the venue's only emergency exit.
The nightclub was operating illegally, the fire extinguishers were not working, and many victims confused the sign for the exit with that for the toilets, where 50 were later found dead.
There were also claims that bouncers initially tried to stop people from escaping by holding the doors shut because they could not prove they had paid their drinks bills.
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