In the Southern Brazil (Kiss) nightclub fire, the security team didn't initially know the fire broke out, and since it's quite normal at nightclubs in Brazil to pay for all one's drinks upon leaving, they didn't want to let anyone out and thus locked the front door. There were other contributing reasons (lack of exit signs, people mistaking the bathrooms for exits, etc) but policy, I believe, was the main reason for a high death toll.
This is very interesting as the Wikipedia entry in English [0] never mentions this part of the accident. They mention the security guards locked the door, but never return to the reasoning, nor if the security guards were also charged with anything.
The part about the paying upon exit is well-known in Brazil among Brazilians. The Portuguese version of the Wikipedia article you cited says the following:
"Dezoito profissionais que atuavam na Kiss, quando ouvidos pela Polícia Civil, disseram que não receberam treinamento para uso de extintores nem para evacuação em casos de tumultos ou incêndios, além do que os seguranças não tinham equipamentos de comunicação."
The translation of that being: "Eighteen professionals that worked at Kiss, when heard by the Civil Police, said they received no training for the use of fire extinguishers nor for evacuation in cases of stampedes or fires, in addition to the security guards not having communication equipment."
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The two owners were taken into custody, as they were ultimately responsible for those they employed and the policies/upkeep of the club. The security team was just doing their job, according to club operating norms in Brazil, as they (initially) thought people were trying to leave w/o paying. In no time at all, though, there was a stampede and the situation became uncontrollable.
