Kiss Nightclub Fire in Brazil

The Kiss nightclub fire started between 2:00 and 2:30 (BRST) on 27 January 2013 in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, killing at least 242 people and injuring at least 168 others.

It is considered the second most-devastating fire disaster in the history of Brazil—surpassed only by the Great North American Circus fire of December 1961, which killed 503 people in Niterói, and the deadliest nightclub fire since the December 2000 fire that killed 309 people in Luoyang, China. It is also the third-deadliest nightclub fire in history, behind the Luoyang fire and the Cocoanut Grove fire in 1942.

Because it was a high-casualty fire caused by illegal indoor usage of outdoor pyrotechnics, the disaster bore similarities to the 2003 Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island; the 2004 República Cromañón nightclub fire in Buenos Aires, Argentina; the 2008 Wuwang Club fire in Shenzen, China; the 2009 Santika Club fire in Watthana, Bangkok, Thailand (cause is disputed); and the 2009 Lame Horse fire in Perm, Russia.