RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) – One of the victims hospitalised after a fire at a factory making costumes for Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival has died, the hospital where he was being treated said.
Fire officials had said that those affected by the blaze at the Maximus factory were working in precarious conditions in a building with combustible material.
Firefighters rescued 21 people from the site in the north of Rio de Janeiro. The Getulio Vargas hospital said that a man – one of the eight victims who was being treated there – had died.
Two men and five women remain in serious condition, a hospital statement said.
A ninth victim who is also in serious condition is being treated at another facility, according to local media.
Before the fire, people had been working around the clock to finish outfits for samba schools before Carnival parades start.
Survivors said some workers had been sleeping in the factory to save time and money by avoiding commutes to their homes.
Rio’s Carnival, famous for parades with lavish costumes and towering floats to the tune of samba music, begins on February 28 and will run until March 8.
Three samba schools were having their outfits made at the affected factory.
