Two young men and a young woman have died and another young man has been critically injured by a fireball that erupted at a barbecue after petrol was reportedly poured on the grill

The incident took place in the neighbourhood of Sitio Cercado in the city of Curitiba in the southern Brazilian state of Parana on Saturday, 2nd October.

The victims were taken to the Mackenzie Evangelical Hospital, but the young men succumbed to their burn injuries on the day of the accident and the young woman two days later.

They have been named as Wemerson Souza, 26, Gustavo Lucas Castro, 27, and Larissa Petez, 20.

Others were injured in the incident, including 28-year-old Willian Silva Benitez, who, at the time of reporting, remained in intensive care in a critical condition.

Larissa’s boyfriend was also treated for injuries and was discharged.

Larissa’s cousin, Aline Emelly, was in the house at the time of the fireball. She said: “We were having a normal weekend barbecue. At the time of the accident, I had luckily just gone to charge my mobile phone in the lower part of the house, and the barbecue grill exploded upstairs. It all happened very quickly, and as there wasn’t much furniture nearby, the fire didn’t spread much.”

The fire brigade suspects a flammable liquid such as petrol was used to light the fire.

According to one of the first responders, one of the young men had burns to 90 percent of his body, and, according to reports, Larissa suffered burns to 80 percent of her body.

The unnamed first responder said: “Unfortunately, people still pour petrol or alcohol on the fire to increase the embers of the coal, and most of the time, when the blast reaches the airways, it becomes more difficult to survive.”

The police will investigate the case.