Death Toll in Brazil Nightclub Fire Rises to 237
State health officials say a 22-year-old man injured in last week’s deadly nightclub fire in southern Brazil has died.
The Rio Grande do Sul Health Secretariat says Bruno Portella Fricks died late Saturday from injuries he sustained in last Sunday’s blaze.
Fricks’ death brings to 237 the death toll from the fire at the Kiss nightclub in the college town of Santa Maria.
In its statement Sunday, the health secretariat said 101 people injured in the fire remain hospitalized.
Police say the fire likely started when a band set off flares, which ignited soundproofing foam on the ceiling. Police investigators have also said the club was lacking basic fire safety equipment, and a judge last week extended the temporary detentions of the club’s owners and two band members by 30 days.