Brazilian police have arrested the co-owner of a nightclub where 233 people were killed in a fire, according to the AFP news agency.
Police also apprehended two members of a band that was performing at the club, the report said.
Witnesses said a flare or firework lit by members of the band onstage had started the fire which broke out early on Sunday morning.
The fast-spreading blaze raged through the crowded Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, with a cloud of toxic smoke setting off panic as party-goers gasping for air rushed to the exit.
Security guards tried to block people from leaving the club, survivors and rescuers have said.
A preliminary investigation found that the club’s single exit was blocked by the bodies of those already dead.
Brazilian bars routinely make patrons pay their entire tab at the end of the night before they are allowed to leave.
“It was chaotic and it doesn’t seem to have been done in bad faith because several security guards also died,” police inspector Marcelo Arigony said.
Police have said an arrest warrant has been issued for another owner of the club.
The detentions were for investigative purposes, and a police official said they were “temporary”.
Many of the 233 victims were under 20-years-old. Around 117 others were injured.
Funerals for some of the victims were being held on Monday.
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