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At least 245 people have been killed in a Brazil nightclub after a fire ravaged through the building in the early hours of this morning.
Initial reports were that 90 people perished in the blaze, but the death toll has steadily been rising as more bodies have been found in the packed nightclub.
While the official cause of the blaze has not been stated, local reports claim it was sparked by a firework set off during a band's performance.
The total number of victims is still unknown and there may be hundreds injured, civil police and regional government spokesman Marcelo Arigoni told Radio Gaucha.
He told the radio a truck carrying 70 bodies had arrived at the Municipal Sports Centre, which was being used as an improvised morgue.
Police believe there are about 20 bodies still inside the club. At least 200 people have been injured, they said.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, however, some media reports claim the blaze was ignited by a firework set off inside the club during the band's performance.
Local newspaper Diario de Santa Maria reported that the fire started at around 2am.
Club security guard, Rodrigo Moura, is quoted in the paper as saying the venue was at maximum capacity of between 1,000 and 2,000. He said partygoers were pushing and shoving to escape.
Ezekiel Corte Real, 23, was quoted by the paper as saying he helped people to escape. 'I just got out because I'm very strong,' he said.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff today cancelled her participation in a regional summit to travel back to Brazil following news of the crisis.
'I want to say to the people of our country and to the people of Santa Maria that at this moment of sadness we are together, and necessarily we will overcome,' said Ms Rousseff told reporters on the sidelines of a summit of Latin American and European leaders, in Chile.
She was close to tears as she spoke adn said that the government was 'mobilising resources' to deal with the tragedy.
'Sad Sunday', tweeted Tarso Genro, the governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. He said all possible action was being taken and that he would be in the city later in the day.
Santa Maria, at the southern tip of Brazil near the borders with Argentina and Uruguay, is a major university city with a population of around a quarter of a million.
As news of the tragedy was made public, relatives of the victims began to appear at the scene.
Hundreds of shocked and distraught grieving families gathered in the street, but were kept cordoned off away from the charred Kiss club.
The fire appeared to be among the world's deadliest in a nightclub since a 2004 fire killed 194 people at an overcrowded working-class nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
A blaze at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia, broke out in December, 2009, when an indoor fireworks display ignited a plastic ceiling, killing 152.
Source: DailyMail Uk
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