233 Tewas Akibat Diskotik di Brazil Terbakar
Nightclub Fire Kills 233 in Brazil
Editor : Heru S Winarno
Translator : Parulian Manalu
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Santa Maria (B2B) - Setidaknya 233 orang tewas akibat kebakaran di sebuah klub malam di bagian selatan Brazil pada Minggu (27/1) menyebabkan pengunjung panik dan memblokir jalan keluar.
Kebanyakan korban meninggal dunia karena tercekik uap beracun yang memenuhi ruangan padat pengunjung setelah percikan api dari kembang api yang digunakan band untuk efek visual menjilat atap ruang kedap suara.
"Asap langsung memenuhi ruangan, panas jadi tak tertahankan. Orang-orang tak bisa menemukan satu-satunya jalan keluar," kata pengunjung yang selamat, Murilo Tiescher, kepada GloboNews TV.
"Mereka pergi ke toilet karena mengira itu jalan keluar dan beberapa meninggal di sana," kata mahasiswa Fakultas Kedokteran itu.
Petugas pemadam kebakaran mengatakan satu pintu keluar terkunci dan pengunjung klub yang berusaha menyelamatkan diri justru memblokir jalan keluar yang ada.
Di Santa Maria, kota paling sejahtera di Brazil dengan lebih dari 275.000 orang, petugas penyelamat dan pejabat yang lelah menitikkan air mata bersama keluarga dan teman korban di ruang olahraga yang digunakan sebagai tempat penyimpanan jenazah sementara.
"Ini adalah hari tersedih, paling sedih dalam hidupku," kata Neusa Soares, ibunda Viviane Tolio Soares (22) yang meninggal dunia dalam kejadian itu. "Aku tak pernah berpikir harus hidup menyaksikan anak perempuanku pergi," katanya.
Peristiwa itu membuat Presiden Brazil Dilma Rousseff memangkas waktu kunjungannya ke Chili dan terbang ke Santa Maria. Dia menangis saat berbicara dengan keluarga korban yang kebanyakan mahasiswa.
Santa Maria - A nightclub fire killed at least 233 people in southern Brazil on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked exits in the ensuing panic.
Most of those who died were suffocated by toxic fumes that rapidly filled the crowded club after sparks from pyrotechnics used by the band for visual effects set fire to soundproofing on the ceiling, local fire officials said.
"Smoke filled the place instantly, the heat became unbearable," survivor Murilo Tiescher, a medical student, told GloboNews TV. "People could not find the only exit. They went to the toilet thinking it was the exit and many died there."
Firemen said one exit was locked and that club bouncers, who at first thought those fleeing were trying to skip out on bar tabs, initially blocked patrons from leaving. The security staff relented only when they saw flames engulfing the ceiling.
In Santa Maria, a city of more than 275,000 people, rescue workers and weary officials wept alongside family and friends of the victims at a gymnasium being used as a makeshift morgue.
"It's the saddest, saddest day of my life," said Neusa Soares, the mother of one of those killed, 22-year-old Viviane Tolio Soares. "I never thought I would have to live to see my girl go away."
President Dilma Rousseff cut short an official visit to Chile and flew to Santa Maria, where she wept as she spoke to relatives of the victims, most of whom were university students.
