Fire at football team complex leaves 10 dead
Blaze said to have started in a dorm where youth players sleep
Afire tore through the sprawling training complex of one of Brazil’s biggest football clubs yesterday killing 10 people and leaving three teenagers injured, firefighters said.
Firefighters were called in just after 5am to battle a blaze at the Ninho de Urubu training ground of the Flamengo football club in Rio de Janeiro’s western region, a fire official told AP.
There was no word yet on the cause of the fire. “Flamengo is in mourning” the team posted on its Twitter account.
The ages and identities of those killed were not released but the three injured were 14, 15 and 16 years old, the fire official said. The injured were taken to local hospitals and their conditions were not immediately known, said the officials.
Local media reported that the fire started in a dorm where youth football players sleep. The fire official said that could not be confirmed.
Messages to Flamengo officials were not immediately answered.
‘Terrible news’
Aerial images from Globo TV showed firefighters walking through a charred area with smoke emerging.
Outside the complex, an Associated Press reporter saw two ambulances and a fire truck enter. The facility was closed, and no officials had come out to address media.
Family members, friends and neighbours gathered outside in hopes of getting information.
Jefferson Rodrigues, who runs a small inn near the club, said he had reached a 15-year-old player he had befriended.
“I am very happy. I just spoke to Caix Suarez and he is alive,” said Rodrigues, adding that the youth told him he ran when he saw the flames in the morning. ■ “He lost his phone, and all of his things, but the important thing is he is alive.”
Joao Pedro da Cruz, a 16-yearold player in the Flamengo youth league said he decided not to stay the night at the facility Thursday because the team wasn’t going to train yesterday. Instead, he went to a friend’s house.
“The majority of them [the team] stayed, my friends stayed
The majority of them [the team] stayed, my friends stayed [at the facility]. Today I woke up and heard this terrible news.” Joao Pedro da Cruz | Player at Flamengo youth league
[at the facility],” he said. “Today I woke up and heard this terrible news.”
Like many professional clubs in football-crazed Brazil, Flamengo has a youth development programme for promising young players in their early teens. Many players, particularly those who live outside of Rio de Janeiro, stay at the facilities while training.