A FIERCE FIRE spread through some of Rio de Janeiro’s leading samba schools yesterday, destroying elaborate costumes for the city’s world-famous carnival and causing millions of euro worth of damage.
The Grande Rio Grande Rio school had been tipped to win the first ever samba parade contest on 4 March, the Guardian reports.
However, the blazed that tore through the warehouse complex where the city’s top 12 schools were located seems to have turned those hopes to ashes – with 98 per cent of the intricate costumes and floats completely destroyed.
The Grande Rio, Portela and União da Ilha schools, as well as Liesa, the carnival organiser were all housed in the warehouse. Portela’s directors told reporters that the school had lost at least 2,500 costumes.
Rio’s Carnival, billed as the “greatest show on Earth”, takes months of careful preparation.
Over the next four weeks, organisers will try to salvage what they can for the most important event on the Brazilian calendar.
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