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Part of the Flamengo football training center, after the fire, February 8, 2019. REUTERS / Ricardo Moraes

Brazilian football is in mourning. On Friday morning, February 8, a fire in the training center of the Flamengo club in Rio de Janeiro caused the deaths of 10 people, most of them teenagers. A tragedy for Brazil.

With our correspondent in Rio de Janeiro, Sarah Cozzolino

Three days of mourning were decreed after the tragedy this Friday morning. Ten people died in the fire, six young players between the ages of 14 and 17, and four club employees. Three more children are seriously injured.

Flamengo is one of the most popular clubs in the country, and as soon as they heard the news, a few dozen supporters came to the training club in the western area of ​​Rio to pay tribute to the victims and their families. families. Most of the children had been selected by the club for training, they were promised a future in the world of Brazilian football.

We do not yet know the causes of the drama, declared at 5 o'clock this Friday morning. Most of the young club players were not present during the fire, the training was suspended after the heavy rains that caused serious damage in Rio on Wednesday.

This damage, and power cuts in the area, may be a trail to explain the beginning of the fire. One of the injured said that the fire had since taken an air conditioning, but an investigation should specify the exact causes of the fire. For now, the matches that were to take place this weekend have been canceled.