Brazil nightclub fire causes high death toll. More than 200 people have been killed in a Brazilian nightclub fire sparked by a band’s flag-burning stage show. Emergency services fear the death toll in the southern city of Santa Maria could rise because close to 400 revellers were in the Kiss venue when the blaze started. Police and firefighters at the scene said at least 245 were dead. Many of the victims died inhaling toxic fumes during the rush to escape through the venue’s single exit, according to local media reports. Photographs of the scene showed firemen had to smash holes in the wall to get inside. After the fire was extinguished, bodies were ferried by two trucks to a makeshift mortuary at the city gymnasium. The Globo newspaper said the first truck carried 67 bodies and the second 70. “Fire services are looking for other victims. We can’t give an exact number of victims. People started panicking and ended up treading on each other,” a fire chief, Guido de Melo, told local media. Witnesses told the Folha de São Paulo newspaper that the blaze began at about 2am when the lead singer of the band set fire to a flag that ignited foam sound-proofing material on the ceiling.