A fire at the Rio de Janeiro football club, Flamengo led to the death of 10 individuals quite recently, as it was confirmed by reports coming in. The fire broke out at Ninho do Urubu, a state of art training centre which was opened two months ago. The blaze took the lives of 10 players and injured at least three more. According to the local report, the fire broke out at 5:17 a.m. and there is one person in critical condition among the ones injured.
The lieutenant colonel of the fire brigade, Douglas Henaut, confirmed that all the dead were between 14 and 17 years old with Brazillian TV confirming the fact that five of them were aged just 14.
“The kids from the Flamengo youth team were sleeping there at the time,” reported fire fighter Douglas Henaut from the accident site. The fire occurred in the local dormitory of the club’s accommodation inside the training ground at a time when youth players of the club were sleeping. Reports suggest the fire started around local time 5:17 a.m. and went on till 6:30 a.m. before firefighters had it under control. Images from Globo News from a helicopter showed smoke emerging from a charred area.
As per BBC news, none of the victims had been identified previously, though the procedures are going on and the details would be revealed soon. The training centre in which fire broke out early in the morning is one of the most modern training ground in Brazil. Alongside the football team, the training ground is also shared by basketball, volleyball and rugby teams. The fire was followed by heavy rain in the city which killed six more people in the city.
Flamengo, five times champions of Brazil had a wonderful season finishing runners up in Brasileiro last season. The 2019 season does not get away till April but Flamengo are scheduled to face Fluminense on Saturday in the semi-finals of the Taca Guanabara. Flamengo have produced quite some sensational youth players in the last few seasons, with Real Madrid wonder kid, Vincius Jr. being the latest one of it.
Some of Brazil’s finest like Ronaldinho, Bebeto and Romario have graduated under through the ranks of Flamengo. The alma mater of players such as Zico, Junior and Leonardo, Flamengo is one of the best supported clubs in Brazil.
With the world already moaning over the loss of Emiliano Sala recently, this is yet another sad event that has shocked the footballing world. Some of these young talents could have been future superstars and done what their idols have done in the past, but now we will never know. This is yet another huge tragedy in the world of football and hopefully that 2019 gets better in terms of more positive football news.
After a great 2018, things have rather been down with regards to these tragedies that have taken place in such a short spell of time. Hopefully, better things to come in the upcoming days, as most of the teams head into the business end of their campaigns.
