Santa Maria, Brazil: 245 dead, 48 in hospital after fire started by pyrotechnics at Kiss, college town nightclub

"There are 245 dead and 48 in the hospital," Major Cleberson Bastianello, a military police commander in the southern Brazilian city of Santa Maria, told the AFP news agency.
Most appeared to be dead of smoke inhalation, said Col. Adilomar Silva, the regional coordinator of civil defense, although a security guard told CNN affiliate Band News that many people were trampled.
     The acoustic insulation caught fire during a pyrotechnics show -- virtually the same thing that happened in Rhode Island nightclub fire in which more than 90 people died in 2003 during a heavy metal performance by Great White.
      Between 2,000 and 3,000 people routinely fill Kiss on weekends.