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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, July 22, 2002

Peru Night Club Fire Kills 25

At least 25 people died and 100 were injured Saturday in a blaze started by bartenders who were doing tricks with fire at an upscale night club in Lima that was not licensed to operate. Customers fueled the fire by trying to put out the flames with their drinks.


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At least 25 people died and 100 were injured Saturday in a blaze started by bartenders who were doing tricks with fire at an upscale night club in Lima that was not licensed to operate. Customers fueled the fire by trying to put out the flames with their drinks.

A lion and tiger, part of a show that included live animals in cages, were also killed.

The fire, coming just months after a far deadlier blaze that consumed a large part of the city, prompted calls for a crackdown on businesses that disregard safety regulations, a common practice in Peru. As well as not having a permit, the disco violated several fire safety regulations.

The fire broke out about 3 a.m. in the Utopia, a multilevel night club in the Jockey Plaza, a shopping mall in the upscale district of Surco, in southeastern Lima. Witnesses said the club was packed at the time and bartenders were entertaining guests in their usual manner on weekends, with fire.

Prime Minister Luis Solari said 25 people died. Health Minister Fernando Carbone said most of the deaths were from smoke inhalation.

Fire chief Tulio Nicolini said the disco was not following safety standards and did not have marked emergency exits, fire extinguishers or a fire alarm. Surco's mayor, Carlos Dargent, said the club was also operating without a permit.

Authorities closed off the sprawling shopping mall but the fire appeared to have been contained to the night club.

The blaze came just months after 274 people died in Peru's deadliest fire ever when a fireworks explosion in late December devoured four blocks of shops and decrepit apartment buildings in downtown Lima.

Source: Agencies






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