republica de cromagnon

This post is made in the memory of all the 194 young people that died one day cos they went to a concert...

República Cromagnon (Spanish for "Cro-Magnon Republic") was a nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

On 30 December 2004, a fire broke out in the club, killing 194 people and injuring 714 others. The venue was playing host to rock group Callejeros and around 3,000 people were in attendance. Speculation is that the blaze was started when a pyrotechnic flare (a popular device in New Year's Eve celebrations) was set off and ignited foam in the ceiling. The materials used in the building for decoration were inflammable: mostly wood, styrofoam, acoustic panels and a plastic net (a so-called media sombra). This plastic net was hung from the ceiling and caught fire first, melting into a rain of fire. In some parts of the building, teddy bear stuffing was used as a cheap alternative to wool fiber. The owner and the band's lead singer had told the patrons not to use flares inside the building.

Four of the six doors, some of which were fire exits, were wired shut so that "people would not enter without paying", according to mayor Aníbal Ibarra. Most of the victims died from inhaling poisonous gases, smoke and carbon monoxide, unlike most accidents of this kind, where most die from crushing or burning. Some small children and babies, kept in an improvised nursery operated in the ladies' washroom upstairs, were also killed in the fire.

Comments

[tibo]

hola amigo. content de voir des nouvelles sur ton blog. odes a buneos aeres entre autres. hier j ai vu le spectacle de clown sur le theme de l eau a recoleta. estupendo y por supesto re gracioso. et j ai vu deux petits groupes "exotiques" dans un style que j aime particulierment. le premier deux guitaristes "django" et ensuite un trio klezmer, darbouka, clarinette, accordeon. je te ferais ecouter... il y a vraiment pleins d horizons culturels differents dans cette ville. ciao. un beso