Sunday's fire also appeared to be the worst at a nightclub since December 2000, when a welding accident reportedly set off a fire at a club in Luoyang, China, killing 309.
In 2004, at least 194 people died in a fire at an overcrowded nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Seven members of a band were sentenced to prison for starting the flames.
A blaze at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia, killed 152 people in December 2009 after an indoor fireworks display ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches.
Similar circumstances led to a 2003 nightclub fire that killed 100 people in the United States. Pyrotechnics used as a stage prop by the 1980s rock band Great White set ablaze cheap soundproofing foam on the walls and ceiling of a Rhode Island music venue.
The band performing in Santa Maria, Gurizada Fandangueira, plays a driving mixture of local Brazilian country music styles. Guitarist Martin told Radio Gaucha the musicians are already seeing hostile messages.
"People on the social networks are saying we have to pay for what happened," he said. "I'm afraid there could be retaliation".
Relatives and friends of those killed filled a community gymnasium on Sunday night to claim the bodies of their loved ones.
Officials said 233 bodies had been brought for identification to the gymnasium in Santa Maria.
The fire swept through the Kiss nightclub with about 900 people inside.
Firefighters responding to the blaze at first had trouble getting inside the Kiss nightclub because bodies partially blocked the club's entryway.
"A large majority of them were alumni from my university. It's not just now at this moment of loss that they will be missed, but each day," said Neri Paniss, a professor at Federal University of Santa Maria.
Brazil President Dilma Rousseff visited some of the injured in hospital after cutting short her trip to a Latin American-European summit in Chile.
Outside the gymnasium some of the friends and relatives of the victims listened to the names of the dead being announced by loudspeaker.
Inside the gymnasium, families surrounded the coffins of their loved ones.
"I lost my son in this tragedy. My son was full of life and full of health at 27 years old," said Odomar Norambia, who went to the gym to claim his son's body.
A Catholic wake was also held on Sunday at a cemetery in Santa Maria for some of the victims.
Crowds gathered outside, many weeping and embracing each other for comfort.
"(I lost) many loved ones, many people whom I enjoyed spending time together, true friends who ended up dying in a tragedy without any explanation," said Jean Noau.
One amateur video showed firefighters trying to save people and dragging victims away from the entrance while smoke was still pouring out of the nightclub.
Another showed emergency services outside the club and some of the survivors trying to help them.
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