Shopping Tijuca Partially Reopens as Police Probe Deadly Fire and Rio Orders Mall Inspections

Overview

• Security-camera footage shows evacuation began about 11 minutes after the first internal alert, with some customers still entering the building up to an hour after the fire started.
• Brigade members told police the Bell’Art store’s internal hydrant had no water and cited obstructed sprinklers, faulty smoke detectors and emergency lights, and excessive combustible stock.
• The mall reopened two weeks after the blaze with the subsoil and part of the first floor still interdicted by Civil Defense, leaving 14 shops closed and a strong smoke odor lingering.
• Rio’s fire department ordered technical inspections of all shopping centers to verify compliance with fire and panic-safety measures and reiterated certification and maintenance requirements.
• Investigators are reviewing the timeline of the response, including when firefighters were called, as testimony and video also document rescue attempts by staff who later died.