Argentina offers skin grafts for Brazil victims

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina sent skin grafts by air to Brazil on Monday, to treat victims of a nightclub fire over the weekend, the country's health ministry said.

Argentine Health Minister Juan Manzur said 10,000 square cm of skin and 20,000 amniotic membrane were sent for those who were seriously burned in the fire at Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, a college town in southern Brazil.

"The skin grafts are kept through organ donation. The commitment of those Argentineans who decided to donate organs of their dearly departed plays an important role in this kind of serious accidents," Manzur said.

Argentina offered skin grafts and other medical resources for victims in a Paraguay's supermarket fire in August 2004 and a refinery explosion in Venezuela in September 2012.

A blaze, triggered by the sparks from flares igniting the highly-flammable sound-proofing foam lining the ceiling, engulfed a packed nightclub in Santa Maria on Sunday, killing at least 231 people and injuring more than 100, according to Brazilian authorities.