Tear gas explosion at Caracas club kills 17 people

Over 500 people were at the party at the Los Cotorros club in the middle-class Caracas neighborhood of El Paraiso when the device went off during a fight between several young people

At least 17 people suffocated to death at a party at a Caracas club early on Saturday morning, when a person activated a tear gas device inside, Venezuela’s interior minister Nestor Reverol said.

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Over 500 people were at the party at the Los Cotorros club in the middle-class Caracas neighborhood of El Paraiso when the device went off during a fight between several young people, Reverol said on state television.

Eight of those who died from suffocation were younger than 18, he said, and five people were injured.

Reverol said authorities had arrested 7 people and the investigation was ongoing.