(CNN) -- The owners of Kiss nightclub pledged to cooperate with the investigation into a fire that left at least 233 people dead early Sunday, according to a statement released by the law firm of Kummel & Kummel.
"We are open to all authorities and inspections," said the statement, obtained by GLOBO TV.
The owners, according to the statement, said the nightclub was properly permitted and had been inspected by the fire marshal.
"All the fire systems were approved by the (fire department). They were adequate and necessary to provide for the safety of the nightclub and (its patrons)," the statement said.
The statement also offered its condolences to the families of those killed in the fire that began early Sunday morning at the nightclub in Santa Maria.
The full statement is here: http://g1.globo.com/rs/rio-grande-do-sul/noticia/2013/01/boate-divulga-nota-e-classifica-tragedia-no-rs-como-fatalidade.html
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SANTA MARIA, Brazil (CNN) -- Guitarist Rodrigo Martin was preparing to launch into the sixth song of his band's set when he saw embers fall.
The acoustic foam insulation on the ceiling of the KISS nightclub in the southern Brazilian city of Santa Maria was on fire, and it was beginning to spread.
The hot ash fell onto the stage and dance floor.
In front of him, a sea of people who moments earlier were dancing and singing along to the country-pop sounds of his band Gurizada Fandangueira began to realize something was wrong.
Suddenly, concert-goers were stampeding toward the club's only exit, pushing and shoving each other trying to get out.
Then, according to investigators and witnesses, somebody fell in the narrow, dark hallway that led to the windowless exit.
And then another person fell.
And then another.
Searching for answers
It was the last weekend of Brazil's summer break for many of the students, and the KISS nightclub was packed early Sunday with young people -- many of whom attended one of a number of universities and colleges in Santa Maria.
At least 231 people died and hundreds more were injured in the fire that authorities believe began about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when the band's pyrotechnic show ignited insulation material.
Many apparently died from smoke inhalation. Others were trampled in the rush for the exits.
Of the dead, 101 were students at the Federal University of Santa Maria.
Another 120 remained hospitalized Monday morning, 79 in critical condition, authorities said.
About 2,000 people were inside the club when the fire broke out -- double the maximum capacity of 1,000, said Guido de Melo, a state fire official.
The roof collapsed in several parts of the building, trapping many inside. Firefighters found piles of bodies in the club's bathroom.
It looked, said state lawmaker Valderci Oliveira, "like a war zone."
For others, escaping was complicated by the fact that guards initially stopped people from leaving, said a reporter from CNN affiliate Band News, echoing comments from the state fire official.
"Some guards thought at first that it was a fight, a huge fight that happened inside the club and closed the doors so that the people could not leave without paying their bills from the club," the reporter, Glauber Fernandes, said.
But Rodrigo Moura, a nightclub security guard, said the fire moved fast.
"All of the sudden the fire just took off and was all around us. We tried to tell people to get out," he said.
The owners of the nightclub, meanwhile, pledged to cooperate with the investigation into the fire, according to a statement released by the law firm of Kummel & Kummel.
"We are open to all authorities and inspections," said the statement, obtained by Globo TV.
The club's license had expired in August and had not been renewed, a local fire official told Globo TV.
The owners, however, said the nightclub was properly permitted and had been inspected by the fire marshal.
'Blocked by security'
The band, Gurizada Fandangueira, was a popular attraction at KISS in part because of its pyrotechnic show, according to Billboard.com. It played at the nightclub about once a month, and was there Sunday to promote a new album.
Martin, the guitarist, told Radio Gaucha the band had been on stage for about 20 minutes, finishing the fifth song of its set, when it set off its "sputnik" pyrotechnics -- sparkler columns that shoot up in the air.
"We used it all the time. ...We never had this problem before," he told the radio station late Sunday.
Martin said he first noticed a small ember, and then he looked up at the ceiling and saw the flames.
A backstage hand attempted to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher. "But, it didn't work," he said.
Martin said as he and the other band members got off the stage, there were 20 to 30 people in front of him who were "being blocked by security."
People started pushing and shoving, and then they tripped over one another to the door.
Martin said the band's
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