At least 86 people died after a massive fire broke out early this morning (Irish time) during a rock concert at a club in the eastern US state of Rhode Island, the state's governor said tonight. A total of 187 people were treated in hospital, of which 81 had been admitted and 25 were listed as "critical," Governor Donald Carcieri told reporters.
He added that the death toll was expected to climb.
"The rescue people have identified some pockets where they are certain there are other bodies ... how much they just don't know," Carcieri said.
"They are working as fast as they can to clear the site."
The fire was the second disaster to hit a US nightclub in a week and raised major safety concerns.
On Monday, 21 people were crushed to death at a Chicago club after a chemical spray released on a dance floor sparked a stampede.
Eighties rock band Great White had just started playing at the The Station nightclub in West Warwick today when giant pyrotechnic sparklers on stage began shooting up and ignited the ceiling.
"The whole place got tons of black smoke. We were breathing black smoke," clubgoer Lisa Shea told CNN.
"I got knocked on the ground. People were standing on my back, my head. I was holding my head and I said, 'I'm going to die here'."
Local officials said the death toll could rise further as firefighters continued to search the charred remains of the building for bodies. Many of those being treated in hospital were also in a critical condition.
"They were completely burned. They had pieces of flesh falling off them," said Michelle Craine of West Warwick, who was waiting to hear about a friend who was missing. "It was the worst thing I've ever seen."
Brian Butler was filming the concert for a local TV station for a story about nightclub safety following the Chicago disaster.
His graphic video footage showed piles of people lying on top of each other, trying to push their way out.
Some of the crowd at first thought the fire was part of the show, he said.
"People were just sitting there going 'Yeah that's great!' I was like, 'This is not great, this is time to leave'," he said.
Panic broke out when everyone realised what was happening.
"People were smashing out windows, people were pulling on people. Nobody cared about the bruises or the burns. They just wanted out of the building."
The blaze broke out at about 11pm local time, 4am UK time, in West Warwick, about 15 miles south-west of Providence, Rhode Island state's largest city.
West Warwick Fire Chief Charlie Hall said the building had no sprinklers because its relatively small size did not require them.
He said the club had recently passed a fire inspection, but did not have a permit for pyrotechnics.
Most of the bodies were found near the front exit, some of them burned and others dead from smoke inhalation, he said. Some appeared to have been trampled in the rush to escape.
He said the club's fire exits were all working, but most people did not use them.
"Human nature being what it is, they tried to go out the same way they came in and were trapped," he said. "That was the problem."
Jack Russell, Great White's lead singer, said he suddenly felt a wave of immense heat as he was midway through his first song.
"I see the foam's on fire. ... The next thing you know the whole place is in flames."
He said he started dousing the fire with a water bottle but was unable to put it out."I just couldn't believe how fast it went up," he said. The band's guitarist Ty Longley, was among the missing.
Rhode Island Governor Don Carcier called the incident a "terrible, terrible tragedy".
"There are going to be all kinds of questions about 'How could this happen?' 'Why did this happen?' 'How was this allowed to occur?'" he said.
"The fire marshal says it was not permitted. So why did this go on?"
PA