Arrests made in Brazil fire, funerals begin

Cladimir Callegari, father of Mariana Callegari, one of the victims of a fire at Boate Kiss nightclub cries during her funeral in the southern city of Santa Maria, 187 miles (301 km) west of the state capital Porto Alegre January 28, 2013. The nightclub fire killed at least 232 people in Santa Maria early on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked and overcrowded exits in the ensuing panic, officials said. REUTERS/Edison Vara

Relatives and friends of Evelin Lopes, one of the victims of a fire at Boate Kiss nightclub attend her funeral in the southern city of Santa Maria, 187 miles (301 km) west of the state capital Porto Alegre January 28, 2013. The nightclub fire killed at least 232 people in Santa Maria early on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked and overcrowded exits in the ensuing panic, officials said. REUTERS/Edison Vara 

Brazil's soldiers carry a container with the remains of a victim outside a gymnasium where bodies were brought for identification in Santa Maria city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing more than 230 people as panicked partygoers gasped for breath in the smoke-filled air, stampeding toward a single exit partially blocked by those already dead. (AP Photo/Nabor Goulart)

SANTA MARIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian police say they've made three arrests and are seeking a fourth person in connection with a nightclub fire that killed more than 230 people.

Inspector Ranolfo Vieira Junior said at a Monday press conference that the arrests are for investigative purposes. He says the detentions have five-day limits.

He declined to identify those arrested or the fourth person sought.
More than 230 people died early Sunday during the fire at a university party in southern Brazil. Police have said they think a band's pyrotechnics show ignited sound insulation on the ceiling, causing the blaze.

The Zero Hora newspaper quotes lawyer Jader Marques as saying his client Elissandro Spohr, a co-owner of the club, was arrested. The paper also says two band members were arrested.

Funerals began Monday in the city of Santa Maria, Brazil, where the blaze took place.