A fire at the Flamengo football club in Brazil has killed 10 people.
ADVERTISEMENTA fire at a training centre of Rio de Janeiro football club Flamengo has killed 10 people, including members of the youth team, and injured at least three others, firefighters and news reports said.
"The kids from the Flamengo youth team were sleeping there at the time," firefighter Douglas Henaut told Globo News.
The Brazilian news channel identified at least six of the dead as youth players.
The blaze broke out at Ninho do Urubu, a state-of-the-art training centre that was expanded two months ago.
Firefighters arrived at the fire at 5am local time but the strength of the flames prevented them from entering the facility.
“We managed to rescue the victims that were outside,” fire service Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Henaut told reporters. “The place was completely overtaken by fire. As much as we tried to get inside and find people still alive that wasn’t (possible) ... we only found bodies inside.”
Flamengo president Rodolfo Landim called it “the biggest tragedy in Flamengo’s 123-year history” but gave no details about the players involved.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Posts on social media showed the extent of the damage.