Rio officials close down Flamengo training centre

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The Flamengo training centre where 10 teenage players died in a blaze earlier this month was shut down by the Rio de Janeiro government on Wednesday because it does not have the proper fire and safety permits.

(Reuters)

The city had ordered the facility, where the club's first team and youth players train, closed in October 2017 but the order was never carried out.

Police and judicial figures put no entry tape on the gates of the Vulture's Nest facility on Wednesday morning and municipal guards will remain in place to prevent any unauthorised people entering, the city said in a statement.

A fire that began in an air conditioning unit and spread through a dormitory used by players in the Flamengo youth squad killed 10 boys, all aged between 14 and 16 on the morning of Feb. 8.

The city has already closed the training facilities run by rival Rio clubs Fluminense and Vasco da Gama for similar permit issues.

Flamengo were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Andrew Downie; Editing by Christian Radnedge)