Funerals Begin for 233 Killed in Brazil Blaze  by Amanda Montell
| Comments  On the last weekend of summer break for most college
students in Brazil, the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria was more
packed than ever. The featured band, Gurizada Fandangueira, was
performing an energetic country-pop set, paired with their
popular pyrotechnic show, for a crowd of nearly 2,000. The fact
that this colossal flood of young people doubled the maximum
capacity for the club didn't seem to raise an eyebrow until
about 2:30 AM EST Sunday, which was when guitarist Rodrigo
Martins says he, "looked up at the ceiling and saw flames."
According to Martins, the band was wrapping up its fifth song
when they set off their Sputnik pyrotechnics machine that
blasted sparklers vertically into the air. A small ember in the
insulation material suddenly spread, and within minutes, the
club's deluge of dancers was scrambling desperately to escape
the fire. Chaos ensued as hordes of people from inside the club
struggled to get through the one