Young man from Rio Grande do Sul creates NGO to monitor nightclubs.

Da BBC Brazil

Brasilia - The day after the fire at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria (RS), which already left 237 deadStudent Giordano Goellner, 23, himself a regular at the nightclub, told himself that he would not let the tragedy that shook his hometown go unpunished.

Along with seven other friends, Goellner, who studies business administration at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), decided to create the non-governmental organization (NGO) Andradas Viva, whose objective is to monitor, with the help of social networks, places of large public gatherings and verify if such establishments are complying with the safety standards provided for in the legislation.

"Our goal is, with the help of our collaborators, to determine if the commercial establishment is compliant with basic safety standards. To do this, we will rely on our website and social media," says Goellner.

The organization's name, Andradas Viva, alludes to the street where the Kiss nightclub is located, which until then was one of the main meeting points for many young people in the city, including numerous UFSM students who died in the tragic event.

In addition to inspections, which will initially focus on nightclubs, Goellner explains that he also wants to raise public awareness of their rights and pressure authorities to change laws that, in his opinion, are "outdated."

"Until the Kiss nightclub fire, I, for example, didn't know what safety equipment a nightclub would need to have," Goellner comments.

"We also want to pressure the authorities to change some outdated laws, regarding, for example, the long deadlines that owners of some establishments have to comply with certain regulations, such as fire alarms."