CNN.com: Workers combing through the charred wreckage of Kiss nightclub in southern Brazil on Sunday encountered the eerie sound of ringing cell phones.
Glauber Fernandes, a reporter from CNN affiliate Band News, explains.
"It was a really complicated scene. A lot of smoke, a lot of shoes that was left, cell phones, because everybody tried to get out of there running," he said. "While we were there, we saw the cell phones were ringing. It was parents, friends, trying to know about what was happening and nobody was answering."
5 comments:
This is absolutely awful. I don't understand why the club was packed to twice its capacity level in the first place, especially when fire was being used in the club that night for a show. This shows how important these limitations are especially in the entertainment industry. It is just asking for trouble. Second of all, I really can't wrap my mind around why in the world those security guards would prevent people from leaving through the exits, even if a fight was actually breaking out. If a fight was breaking out, people would still be in danger, and it would still be completely illogical for the guards to keep people in the club. Emergency exits are made for emergencies, whether it is a fight or a fire. It is such a tragedy that all of those innocent people died due to the mistakes of others. This makes me wonder if many concert halls or night clubs are rethinking their safety protocols.
This is bound to become a hot issue in the coming months. With the World Cup and the Olympics scheduled to take place in Brazil in the next few years, safety is going to be a huge concern for people all over the world. It seems that some of the major issues were the lack of exit signs, and the apparent lack of fire alarms. If the security guys who were at the door were unaware there was a fire on stage, it means that something wasn't working right. Whether that was fire/smoke alarms, the security officers not paying attention, or a lack of safety training. This is a great example of why it's so important for employees to be trained in emergency procedures. Had the people who were working for the club known what to do in the case of a fire, they could have helped the patrons escape safely rather then spreading panic. This is also something we need to keep in mind as theatrical technicians. If something like this were to happen in a theater where we were working, would any of us know what to do? It's your own responsibility to make sure that you are aware of your surroundings and of what to do in case something goes wrong. If a theater doesn't have the proper emergency standards in place, you as an employee should be aware of what could possibly happen.
This is an example of needing to enforce safety regulations. who knows what the federal regulations are in brazil for fire codes and regulations. The club had a maximum capacity so in theory they should have regulations for things like having exit signs. The idea of the security guards blocking the exits to prevent a panic is moronic. Yes they should try to help prevent panic but the way to do that is turn on the damn lights open the doors completly and turn the music off. Not block the exits.
The first thing this makes me think of is the Station nightclub fire that happened in Rhode Island ten or so years ago. I'm from Rhode Island, and even though I was quite young when it happened, I remember the how awful of a tragedy it was. The Station fire led to a revamp and much stronger enforcement of fire codes, which leads me to wonder if such an event in Brazil will do the same. Some of the "safety" procedures the security guards at the nightclub followed seemed absolutely moronic, as well as the fact that the club was well over capacity. Hopefully this tragedy will make people realize that they need to actually pay attention to fire code.
The first question I have is why would the license expiring not be a big issue on its own? In the US they are very strick with restaurants liquor licenses and the same goes for clubs. Next is the issue with capacity how is that even logical by any means? In regards to the exit signs that is a complete no brainer but apparently in Brazil they are not always required? The emergency exits should never have even been blocked I understand they thought it was a fight but regardless I would much rather take a loss financially then get negative publicity over a trampling as a club owner. Unfortunately the event was much worse and hopefully like others said will force Brazil to reconsider present regulations and their enforcement.
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