Disco Fire Kills 47 in Venezuela

A fire that ripped through a packed nightclub in this capital’s gritty industrial center early Sunday killed 47 people, one of the deadliest such blazes in Venezuela in recent years.

Firefighters arrived within minutes of the first report of the blaze and found thick smoke pouring from the Goajira nightclub. They evacuated 400 people from the club and 500 more from nearby buildings, said Caracas Fire Chief Rodolfo Briceno.

The cause of the fire remained unknown Sunday, but Briceno said a locked exit door and overcrowding in the club contributed to the high number of dead, most of whom died of smoke inhalation. At least 12 others were injured.

“There was a dense, toxic smoke and lots of panic,” Briceno said. “Many people were trapped inside.”

Witnesses described a scene of terror and confusion as club-goers fought to get out of the dance hall, located in the basement of a 13-story hotel.

As the smoke grew thicker, hotel guests began fleeing through a narrow passage next to the club entrance, leading to a bottleneck and even more chaos.

“People were saying, ‘Run, run, run!’ ” said Monica Bottini, 30, who was staying at the hotel with her husband. “I said, ‘Honey, we’re going to die.’ ”

Hotel guests began smashing windows and screaming for help from passersby below. Bottini’s husband, Hector Campos, 32, said he had to grab a woman who was about to hurl herself from the ninth floor in a desperate bid to escape.

“In truth, it reminded me of the twin towers attack” of Sept. 11, Campos said. “There was so much panic.”

On Sunday morning, firefighters lined up the bodies of the dead along a sidewalk next to the club as friends and family members arrived to learn the fate of loved ones.

Crowds gathered throughout the day in front of the entrance to the club, a blackened hole in the middle of a tightly packed row of small stores.

Briceno said investigators had just begun their inquiry into the fire’s causes, but he speculated that the blaze was accidental. Possible causes included a short circuit or a cigarette.

It was the deadliest nightclub blaze in decades in the capital. In 1985, 25 people died in a discotheque fire here, Briceno said.

Nightclub fires are common in Latin America, where lax oversight and a weak judicial system make it difficult to enforce fire safety regulations.

“It’s no secret that these types of clubs often have faulty wiring and that their electrical circuits are overcharged,” the fire chief told reporters.