Nine people were killed and 37 injured in a fire in a settlement belonging to activists of the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) on the outskirts of Parahuapebas, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Pará. Among the injured were people with serious burns and others poisoned by inhaling smoke and gases.
The incident occurred while employees of the city telephone operator were working on the Internet network near the Assentamento Terra e Liberdade. Suddenly there was an explosion and the electrical grid began to burn, affecting nearby wooden houses in the camp, some of which were completely destroyed.
Among the dead, three were employees of an Internet operator and six were rural workers of the village. On Sunday evening,
President Lula da Silva, a traditional ally of the Landless Movement, sent ministers to the region and ordered them to help the settlement members with whatever they needed.