A fire at the youth training centre of Rio de Janeiro soccer club Flamengo has killed 10 people including several members of the club's youth team.
Six of those killed were reported to be youth players, and another three boys aged between 14 and 15 were injured in the blaze.
The fire broke out at Ninho do Urubu, a state-of-the-art training centre that was expanded and opened only two months ago.
The fire site in Rio de Janeiro. Source: Globo.com
Players were reportedly sleeping in their dormitory when the fire broke out.
The Rio de Janeiro mayor's office said the dormitory destroyed by the blaze on Friday was built on land that was not registered for buildings and that the club had no permission to erect lodgings there.
"On the project protocol the area is described as a parking lot," the office said in a statement.
“The kids from the Flamengo youth team were sleeping there at the time,” firefighter Douglas Henaut told Globo News.
One of the injured teenagers was identified as 14-years-old, while the other two were 15-years-old, according to local media.
The fire followed days of heavy rains that hit the city and killed at least six people.
The alma mater of players such as Arthur 'Zico' Antunes Coimbra, Leovegildo Lins da Gama Júnior and Leonardo Araújo, Flamengo is one of the best-supported clubs in Brazil and is well-known around the world.
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