Owner of 'killer' Brazilian club attempts suicide during police custody
Washington, Jan 31: One of the owners of the Brazilian nightclub that was destroyed by fire this week, resulting in the death of 235 people, attempted suicide while he was in the police custody.
Elissandro Spohr is one of four people arrested in the aftermath of Sunday's deadly fire at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil.
Santa Maria Police Chief Lylian Carus revealed the suicide attempt happened while he was captive and under police guard at a hospital, where he is being treated for smoke inhalation, CNN reports.
Carus said while taking a shower, Spohr removed the shower hose and tied it to a window, but police discovered him before he placed the other end around his neck.
Carus added everything indicates the owner was going to commit suicide by hanging, adding he is emotionally destroyed.
The residents of Santa Maria, in southern Brazil, have also suffered an emotional toll from the tragedy and it seems to be that entire people in the town talk about, and protestors have taken to the streets demanding justice, the paper reported.
In addition to Spohr, police arrested another owner of the club, Mauro Hoffman. Also in custody are the vocalist for the band performing that night, Marcelo de Jesus dos Santos, and show producer Luciano Bonilha.
The police revealed that during their performance, the band Gurizada Fandangueira used pyrotechnics that they knew were for outdoor use only, adding they opted to buy this particular firework because it was cheaper than the indoor-use kind.
State officials revealed that the club, Kiss was filled well beyond its legal capacity with the crowd of 2,000 people, who packed the club to hear the band play and when the pyrotechnics were set off, the ceiling caught fire and the flames spread quickly.
The crowd panicked, breaking into a stampede, and it hit a bottleneck with the only exit being the front door, down a dark, narrow hallway.