Tens of thousands of Brazilian mourners joined a procession through the streets of Santa Maria on Monday evening to commemorate the 231 victims of the weekend's nightclub fire and to demand justice against those responsible.
Amid rising anger and concern at the lax safety regulations that resulted in the country's deadliest fire in more than 50 years, the marchers – many wearing white clothes or carrying white flowers – paraded from Saldanha Marinho square to the sports centre that has been turned into a makeshift mausoleum.
Some carried mounted photographs of the dead. Others held banners with the names of the victims and slogans decrying the poor law enforcement that contributed to the high death toll.
"Why the regulations? Why pay taxes? What is the government doing?" read one carried by university students who had lost friends in the fire.
During the 90-minute procession, the participants recited prayers, sang anthems and chanted for justice when they passed what is left of the Kiss nightclub.
According to the police, 35,000 people participated in the march, which was organised on social networks as an expression of public sentiment about the disaster.
The authorities have promised to take note. In a speech on Monday, President Dilma Rousseff said administrators bore a heavy responsibility to prevent a recurrence of similar disasters.
"The pain I have witnessed is indescribable … we have a duty to ensure that it will never happen again," she told a meeting of Brazilian mayors and ministers.
Police have detained four people in connection with the fire, including two of the owners of the nightclub and the band's lead singer and production engineer. Anticipating future legal claims for compensation, state lawyers have also blocked the assets of the nightclub owners.
Criminal charges are also possible. The state prosecutor, Nilton Leonel Maria, told local media the owners have not been co-operating with the investigation and may have tampered with the evidence. CCTV surveillance footage that might have shed light on the incident is missing. It is uncertain if the cameras malfunctioned or the tapes were removed.
Fire investigators have identified a long catalogue of negligence. Fire extinguishers failed to work, there was a lack of emergency exits, no backup lighting, and security cameras were reportedly out of action. Unaware of the blaze, the club's bouncers initially prevented people from escaping because they thought they were trying to leave without paying.
Such revelations have raised questions about other entertainment venues elsewhere in Brazil, particularly ahead of the World Cup and Olympics.
"So many young ones with all of their lives ahead of them," Brazilian soccer legend Pelé wrote on Twitter. "The government has to make a priority of event security in this country!"
Several municipalities announced plans for new inspections and meetings with owners to review safety procedures. In Manaus two nightclubs were temporarily closed and fined after it was revealed their licenses had expired and their emergency equipment was substandard.
Valdeci Oliveira, a legislator in Rio Grande do Sul state, said he and his colleagues would seek to ban pyrotechnic displays in closed spaces such as nightclubs. "It won't bring anybody back, but we're going to introduce the bill," Oliveira said on his Twitter feed.
Tighter controls are also being sought on polyurethane foam, which is widely used for soundproofing in clubs. This material has been banned in clubs in the US since a nightclub fire killed 100 people in Rhode Island in 2003.
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