Photo: AP

Brazil has declared three days of national mourning for more than 200 people killed in a nightclub fire in the country. A ceremony  in the capital, Brasilia, to mark 500 days to the 2014 football World Cup was postponed. At least 245 people were suffocated or trampled to death at a club in Brazil’s southern city of Santa Maria on Sunday. According to Brazilian media, the fire flared up around 2am at “Kiss” night club where university students were partying to a rock band whose stage show involved fireworks. The search for victims continues. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has shortened her visit to Chile to attend to this tragedy.