Post by Sydneyhooligan on Jan 1, 2005 22:48:01 GMT 10
at nightclubs anyway
news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=25580
Flare ignites deadly nightclub fire
17:55 AEDT Sat Jan 1 2005
AP - A flare thrown from the audience ignited a fire in a Buenos Aires nightclub where locked exit doors blocked concert-goers from escaping, killing 175 people.
Survivors and Argentine officials said doors, some padlocked and others tied shut with wire, blocked or slowed many who fought to escape the fire.
Investigators said they believed one of Argentina's worst disasters began when the flare, fired during a rock concert, ignited the foam ceiling of the club, which was crowded with teenagers.
Police said they were searching for the club owner for questioning.
Another 714 people were injured in the blaze, which set off a stampede for the exits as the concert hall filled with thick, black smoke.
At least 102 people were reported to be in critical condition, said Julio Salinas, an official with the Buenos Aires emergency services department.
The fire tore through the Cromagnon Republic nightclub late on Thursday, when the Argentine rock band Los Callejeros was playing to a crowd of some 4,000 people.
Argentine media reported the nightclub had a capacity for some 1,500 people.
Witnesses described chaotic scenes of people rushing for the doors amid burning debris, their vision blurred by thick smoke that also blocked out emergency lighting. Other witnesses told of people struggling to force open the doors.
A 22-year-old survivor who gave his name only as Andres said surging crowds pushed their way toward several of the club's six doors but found some of them wouldn't open.
"Once the fire erupted, everyone ran for the doors, but there was only one very narrow one open at the exit closest to us. Another wider door next to it was locked," he said.
Buenos Aires Mayor Anibal Ibarra said four of the building's doors - including two emergency exits - were either tied shut with wire or locked with padlocks in an apparent attempt to prevent people from entering without paying.
"Had they been open, we surely would have avoided a lot of deaths," he said, calling the locked doors an "irresponsible act."
"It seems they were condemned to a terrible trap," said Interior Minister Anibal Fernandez.
Hospital officials said many of the victims were in their teens or 20s, and tearful parents and relatives filed into the city's morgue to identify bodies.
news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=25580
Flare ignites deadly nightclub fire
17:55 AEDT Sat Jan 1 2005
AP - A flare thrown from the audience ignited a fire in a Buenos Aires nightclub where locked exit doors blocked concert-goers from escaping, killing 175 people.
Survivors and Argentine officials said doors, some padlocked and others tied shut with wire, blocked or slowed many who fought to escape the fire.
Investigators said they believed one of Argentina's worst disasters began when the flare, fired during a rock concert, ignited the foam ceiling of the club, which was crowded with teenagers.
Police said they were searching for the club owner for questioning.
Another 714 people were injured in the blaze, which set off a stampede for the exits as the concert hall filled with thick, black smoke.
At least 102 people were reported to be in critical condition, said Julio Salinas, an official with the Buenos Aires emergency services department.
The fire tore through the Cromagnon Republic nightclub late on Thursday, when the Argentine rock band Los Callejeros was playing to a crowd of some 4,000 people.
Argentine media reported the nightclub had a capacity for some 1,500 people.
Witnesses described chaotic scenes of people rushing for the doors amid burning debris, their vision blurred by thick smoke that also blocked out emergency lighting. Other witnesses told of people struggling to force open the doors.
A 22-year-old survivor who gave his name only as Andres said surging crowds pushed their way toward several of the club's six doors but found some of them wouldn't open.
"Once the fire erupted, everyone ran for the doors, but there was only one very narrow one open at the exit closest to us. Another wider door next to it was locked," he said.
Buenos Aires Mayor Anibal Ibarra said four of the building's doors - including two emergency exits - were either tied shut with wire or locked with padlocks in an apparent attempt to prevent people from entering without paying.
"Had they been open, we surely would have avoided a lot of deaths," he said, calling the locked doors an "irresponsible act."
"It seems they were condemned to a terrible trap," said Interior Minister Anibal Fernandez.
Hospital officials said many of the victims were in their teens or 20s, and tearful parents and relatives filed into the city's morgue to identify bodies.
MELBOURNEVICTORY
