Argentine Nightclub Death Toll Rises to 186

Anguished families struggled Saturday to identify the bodies of relatives killed in a Buenos Aires nightclub fire that left at least 186 people dead, many after being trapped inside by locked emergency exits.

The club’s owner, Omar Chaban, was being held by authorities pending an investigation into Thursday’s inferno. Judicial officials said they were looking into claims the building was overcrowded at the time of the blaze, which also injured more than 700 people.

Authorities raised the toll from 175 after 11 more deaths were reported, and police warned that the number could still rise.

Police said they were also investigating survivor accounts that a bathroom inside the Republica de la Cromagnon nightclub had been used as a makeshift nursery where parents left their children during the show. Dozens of children were among the victims.

The fire and its aftermath hung over New Year’s festivities in the Argentine capital, where Buenos Aires city officials declared a three-day mourning period and ordered all nightclubs closed during the weekend.

Several hundred people marched Saturday near the nightclub, calling on officials to toughen safety codes for concert halls and rock clubs.

“We have to ensure this never happens again,” said Jorge Viegas Mendes, whose 18-year-old son, Cristian, died in the blaze.

Investigators believed that the disaster began when somebody set off a flare, igniting the club’s foam ceiling.