A fire occurred in the tent housing a sold-out performance by the Gran Circus Norte-Americano on 17 December 1961 in the city of

Niterói Niterói () is a List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay, facing the city of Rio de ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

caused more than 500 deaths. It is the worst

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

disaster A disaster is an event that causes serious harm to people, buildings, economies, or the environment, and the affected community cannot handle it alone. '' Natural disasters'' like avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires are caused by na ...

to occur in Brazil.

Circus

The Gran Circus Norte-Americano premiered in Niterói on 15 December 1961. It was advertised as the most complete

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

in Latin America, with approximately 60 performers, 20 other employees and 150 animals. Circus owner Danilo Stevanovich had purchased a new tent made of nylon and weighing six tons. The circus arrived in Niterói one week before the premiere, and was set up in the Praça Expedicionário in the city center. The circus tent imported from India had been advertised as being made of nylon, but was actually cotton which, like the tent in the

Hartford circus fire A circus fire occurred on July 6, 1944, in Hartford, Connecticut, killing at least 167 peopleStewart O'Nan, ''The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy''; Anchor, 2001. and leaving more than 700 injured. It was one of the worst fir ...

, had been treated with

paraffin wax Paraffin wax (or petroleum wax) is a soft colorless solid derived from petroleum, coal, or oil shale that consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules containing between 20 and 40 carbon atoms. It is solid at room temperature and melting poi ...

, a highly flammable material.

Fire

The fire occurred during the

flying trapeze The flying trapeze is a specific form of the trapeze in which a performer jumps from a platform with the trapeze so that gravity makes the trapeze swing. The performance was invented in 1859 by a Frenchman named Jules Léotard, who connect ...

act, with 3,000 people present under the big top. One of the artists later recounted that she had been waiting on the platform for her partner who was on the trapeze when she spotted the fire. In an effort not to make him fall she waited until he landed on the platform before alerting him, and they jumped into the net under them and escaped the tent. There was at least one reported instance of a Boy Scout in attendance using a pocket knife to slit the walls of the tent open to make another exit. In a little over five minutes, the circus was completely devoured by the flames. All of the circus' 150 animals were rescued and none had been under the big top at the time of the fire, although three elephants broke from their chains and escaped.

Victims

Of all the casualties, 372 died immediately, with the total reaching 503 dead as others succumbed to their injuries. About 70% of the victims were children, with many eyewitnesses raising claims that the children had been trampled to death by adults attempting to escape the circus tent. Treatment for the injured was hampered due to short supply of many different treatments and even hospital beds and medical personnel. Many supplies were air-lifted from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and doctors and nurses traveled from larger towns after an appeal on the radio.

Investigation

The fire was soon claimed to have been caused by

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

. Three people were arrested and convicted of starting the fire. Independent investigations and opinions point to electrical problems that were covered up.

Perpetrator

The mastermind of the arson attack was identified as Adilson Marcelino Alves, alias "Dequinha", who had a criminal record for theft and mental health issues. He had worked at the circus for only two days before being fired by Danilo Stevanovich. He, along with two other accomplices (Jose dos Santos and Walter Rosa dos Santos) set fire to the circus as retaliation. On October 24, 1962, Dequinha was sentenced to sixteen years in prison and another six years of hospitalization in a judicial asylum, as a security measure. Eleven years later, on January 31, 1973, he escaped from Vieira Ferreira Neto Penitentiary in Niteroi and was found dead with 13 shots at the top of Boa Vista hill in the same city. The author of the crime was never identified. Walter Rosa dos Santos received 16 years' imprisonment and another year in an agricultural colony. Finally, Jose dos Santos was sentenced to 14 years in prison, and another 2 years in an agricultural colony.

Aftermath

Three days of mourning were declared along with a state of calamity for the area. Brazilian President

João Goulart João Belchior Marques Goulart (; 1 March 1919 – 6 December 1976), commonly known as Jango, was a Brazilian politician who served as the president of Brazil from 1961 until a military coup d'état deposed him in 1964. He was considered the ...

inspected the scene of the fire and authorized federal aid for the victims. The owner of the circus also hoped to organize benefit performances for families of victims.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niteroi Circus Fire 1961 disasters in South America 1961 fires 20th-century fires in South America 1961 in Brazil Arson in Brazil Arson in the 1960s Niterói Circus fires December 1961 in South America