Brazil fire club incident could affect the 2014 World Cup when it comes to safety. Is the country safe enough for such a big event?

Brazil is the home country of the 2014 World Cup, but all news lately has been about a horrible night club fire that killed over 200 people.

The blaze, according to the Associated Press, reportedly started around 2:30 a.m. when the band playing ignited a flare, which quickly spread throughout the club. The incident was the deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade and at least 232 bodies were taken for identification by police.

"The band that was onstage began to use flares and, suddenly, they stopped the show and pointed them upward. At that point the ceiling caught fire. It was really weak but in a matter of seconds it spread," a witness who was near the stage told a local newspaper, according to the AP.

"Smoke filled the place instantly, the heat became unbearable," survivor Murilo Tiescher, a medical student, told GloboNews TV. "People could not find the only exit. They went to the toilet thinking it was the exit and many died there."

The fire took place at the Kiss club, which is located in southern Brazilian city of Santa Maria. The BBC reported that the fire spread initially after acoustic insulation caught fire. Reports said that many victims died from smoke inhalation as well as the crush of people rushing out.

"People started panicking and ended up treading on each other," a fire official said.

According to Reuters, at last one of the exits was locked and club bouncers initially kept people from leaving, thinking people were trying to leave without paying bar tabs. The fact that the club is located in a city of more than 275,000 people and in one of Brazil's most prosperous states puts pressure on government officials to make sure everything is in place for the two upcoming sporting events. Officials said that as many as 1,000 people could have been in the club at the time.

"We ran into a barrier of the dead at the exit," Colonel Guido Pedroso de Melo, commander of the fire brigade in Rio Grande do Sul, said of the scene that firefighters found on arrival. "We had to clear a path to get to the rest of those that were inside."

Safety protocols and standards have been the focus lately since the World Cup is being held in Brazil as well as the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. Many around the country were trouble by the events, with Sunday's matches in the Gaucho championship in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul were canceled, while state's top clubs Internacional and Gremio posted messages on their websites declaring three days of mourning and put their flags at half mast in their stadiums.

"It's the saddest, saddest day of my life," said Neusa Soares, the mother of one of those killed, 22-year-old Viviane Tolio Soares. "I never thought I would have to live to see my girl go away."

According to CNN.com, three people were arrested on Monday in connection with the nightclub fire, but they were not identified. The club owner will also be questioned about the incident.

The events also dampened the opening of the first stadium to be completed for the World Cup. On Sunday, the first matches were played in the Arena Castelao, which was the first World Cup stadium to be constructed in Brazil for the tournament. There was double header at the stadium as Fortaleza and Sport drew 0-0 before Bahia beat Ceara 1-0 with a goal from former Brazil and Manchester United midfielder Kleberson.

"I was told about the strength of football here in the north-east region of Brazil, but one has to feel it to fully understand. I cannot wait to be back in less than five months for the FIFA Confederations Cup," said Jerome Valcke, FIFA Secretary General, to FIFA.com. "It is good for the first time not to talk about the construction works, but to actually see a football match at a stadium that will host the FIFA Confederations Cup and the FIFA World Cup. We are happy to see that the stadium is ready for everyone to use."

The incident brought up reminders of a horrible fire in the United States, when 233 poepl died in at the Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island in 2003. That fire began after a stage prop by the rock band Great White set ablaze soundproofing foam on the venue's walls and ceiling.

According to CBSNew.com "stage pyrotechnics have been implicated in other deadly nightclub fires since the Station disaster -- in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2004 (at least 194 people died), and in Perm, Russia in December 2009 (152 dead)."

The first funerals for the victims were scheduled to start Monday for those families who have identified their loved ones.

"It was terrible inside. It was like one of those films of the Holocaust, bodies piled atop one another," police inspector Sandro Meinerz said Sunday. "We had to use trucks to remove them. It took about six hours to take the bodies away."

The fire brings even more attention onto government officials, who have been questioned about safety standards and protocols for fans and players during the World Cup event.

The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup will be the first part of the event to be held in Brazil and serves as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Brazil is the defending champions of the tournament and it is set to start on June 15.