Penny-pinching by a band known for its on-stage pyrotechnic displays may have cost more than 230 people their lives at a nightclub in southern Brazil, the policeman leading the investigation into the deadly blaze said.

A fast-moving fire roared through a crowded, windowless nightclub in southern Brazil, filling the air in seconds with flames and a thick, toxic smoke that killed more than 230 panicked partygoers, many of whom were caught in a stampede to escape.