"Some guards thought at first that it was a fight, a huge fight that happened inside the club and closed the doors so that the people could not leave without paying their bills from the club, " Fernandes said.

CNN: Fire rips through crowded Brazil nightclub, killing 233

"Some guards thought at first that it was a fight, a huge fight that happened inside the club and closed the doors so that the people could not leave without paying their bills from the club, " the reporter, Glauber Fernandes, said.

CNN: Brazil nightclub fire: 'Like a war zone' with bodies piled