More than 230 people died in a nightclub fire in Brazil

More than 230 people were killed in a crowded nightclub in south Brazil early Sunday morning. The fast-moving fire roared through the windowless nightclub. Many of them were caught in a stampede to escape. Inspectors believe the blaze in the university town of Santa Maria began when a band member or someone from its production team igniting a flare, which then set fire to the ceiling.
The vast majority of the victims, most of them university students, died from smoke inhalation rather than burns in what appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade. More than 90 people were hospitalized, including 14 patients with severe burns.
The disaster recalls other incidents including a Buenos Aires nightclub blaze in 2004 that killed at least 194 people, a 2003 fire at a nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, that killed 100 people, and a 2009 explosion at a nightclub in Russia that left more than 100 dead. Follow me on Google+ and Twitter to know more about the fire.