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A policeman puts flowers in front of the fire site of "Kiss" nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil, on Jan. 28, 2013. So far, the fire's death toll is 231. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)
In the aftermath of a nightclub fire which killed 231 people in southern Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff reminded mayors from all over the country on Monday about the responsibilities of government officials with the people.
During a national mayors meeting, President Rousseff called for a minute of silence in honor of the victims and talked about her visit, on Sunday, to the morgue improvised in a local gymnasium, where the dead were being mourned.
"The pain I have witnessed is indescribable. And I talk about this pain to recall the responsibility that all of us from the Executive have with the population. We have the duty to ensure that this will never happen again," she said.
The president regretted the loss of lives and recalled that the victims were mostly college students, who were young and full of dreams.
"They could have been our future mayors, presidents, scientists, " she said.
Rousseff Sunday visited an improvised morgue for victims of the nightclub fire in southern Brazil as condolences flow in over the tragic incident after she canceled several bilateral meetings scheduled on the sidelines of the first summit between the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union (EU) in Santiago, Chile.
Four people have been arrested so far: the two owners of the nightclub and two members of the band that was playing in the club, whose performance with flares is believed to have started the fire.
Though the police are still investigating the incident, it is known that the club's fire regulations permit was out of date. Survivors also reported that the fire extinguishers provided by the club did not work and that the place was overcrowded, which made the evacuation even more difficult.
