Brazil delays World Cup event over fire tragedy

Brazil has postponed an event dubbed "500 Days until World Cup-2014" set for today in Brasilia after a deadly nightclub fire in the country's south killed at least 233 people, officials said.

Updated on: Jan 28, 2013, 07:31:38 IST

AFP | By HT Correspondent, Brasilia

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Brazil has postponed an event dubbed "500 Days until World Cup-2014" set for today in Brasilia after a deadly nightclub fire in the country's south killed at least 233 people, officials said.

"As a sign of mourning due to the tragedy in Santa Maria (in Rio Grande do Sul state), Federal District governor Agnelo Queiroz, who is deeply saddened, has decided to push back the event that had been scheduled for National Stadium" in the federal capital, his office said yesterday.

At least 233 people died early on Sunday when a fire gutted a nightclub packed with university students who desperately tried to exit doors that were locked, in the southern college town of Santa Maria, police said. The city has a population of just over a quarter million people.

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