Nightclub deaths shock Brazil

 More than 230 people have died in a fire in a nightclub in Brazil which was apparently started when a band let off fireworks on stage.

Transcript

EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: Brazilians have started to hold funerals for some of the 231 people killed in a nightclub fire over the weekend. 

The blaze started at the Kiss club in Santa Maria when a band member set off a flare on stage. 

Those who were quick to escape worked desperately to free those trapped inside, but witnesses say the fire took hold very quickly. Many of those killed died from smoke inhalation while the others were trampled to death in the rush for the club's only open exit. 

Authorities have been forced to set up a temporary morgue at a nearby gymnasium.

MATHEUS VIEGAS, VICTIMS' FRIEND: It's scary. The penny hasn't dropped yet. We never think this will happen to people we know. Today I've seen a lot of my friends being buried, people close to me. I saw two brothers being buried, brother burying brother and just now I heard another one of my friends has died.

EMMA ALBERICI: The Brazilian President has declared three days of national mourning.