Brazilian police yesterday detained the owners of the nightclub where a fire killed 231 people, as well as two band members whose pyrotechnics they say triggered the blaze.

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.

At least 180 people are now thought to have died in a nightclub fire in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria.