A fire on a "Carnival" float has killed four people in Santos, a port city in Brazil, also injuring six others. The fire department official indicated that the float caught fire shortly after the Sangue Jovem samba school ended its parade at dawn on Tuesday morning, according to the Associated Press.
The blaze started after the vehicle float touched a power cable and caused a short circuit. Electricity was knocked out in thousands of homes and street lights went off, plunging the area into darkness early Tuesday.
"This is a tragedy for our city," said the Mayor of Santos, Paulo Alexandre Barbosa told reporters. "We cannot continue the parade in the current mood. This is a moment of extreme sadness."
The vehicle involved in the accident belonged to a samba group called Sangue Jovem (Young Blood), formed mainly by fans of Santos Football Club. The officials said three of the victims were pushing the float. A woman watching the parade was the fourth. The condition of the five injured was not immediately known.
A group of children were on top of the float during the parade, but left just before the fire started and were not injured, officials said
The official says that witnesses reported the float caught fire after striking a power line.
Last month, a nightclub fire killed 239 people in southern Brazil. According to reports, the safety precautions have come under intense scrutiny because there has been a lax of enforcement of safety and fire codes in the country.
Much of the scrutiny also stems from the fact that Brazil, Latin America's biggest country, prepares to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors for the World Cup of soccer in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.
Santos, the site of the Carnival float fire, is South America's busiest port. The city is located about 55 miles southeast of São Paulo. Brazil kicked off its annual "Carnival" last Friday.
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