Nightclub fire in Goa kills 25 staff and tourists

way2barak, Dec 8: At least 25 people, including five tourists, were killed after a massive fire ripped through popular nightclub Birch by Romeo Lane in Arpora late on Saturday night, marking the deadliest fire tragedy in Goa’s history.

The blaze broke out around 11.45 pm when more than 150 people were attending a weekend event at the club. Six others were injured, five of whom remain under treatment at the Goa Medical College (GMC).

Preliminary investigations by the police and fire department point to electric firecrackers used during a performance as the trigger. Sparks from the crackers reportedly struck the club’s wooden ceiling, causing the fire to spread rapidly. Chief minister Pramod Sawant said there was no blast and confirmed that the combustible wooden interiors worsened the situation.

As flames engulfed the main exit, several people rushed towards the basement through a narrow staircase in a desperate bid to escape. However, the basement reportedly had no ventilation, leading to suffocation. Officials said 23 people died in the basement alone, their bodies later found piled over one another. Two more charred bodies were recovered from the staircase. It took nearly two hours to retrieve all the bodies and shift them to hospitals.

Among the dead are four members of a family from Delhi, including three women, and one tourist from Karnataka. Except for the five tourists, most of the victims were club employees from states including Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and also Nepal. Postmortems have been conducted on 17 bodies so far, and five bodies have already been handed over to families for last rites.

An FIR has been registered against the club’s owners, Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, and others for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Goa Police have arrested four staffers: chief general manager Rajiv Modak and gate manager Priyanshu Thakur, both from Delhi, and bar manager Rajveer Singhania and general manager Vivek Singh from Uttar Pradesh. CM Sawant confirmed that arrest warrants have been issued against the owners and a police team has been sent to Delhi to apprehend them.

In a parallel action, the state government has sealed another nightclub, Romeo Lane at Vagator, operated by the same owners, after authorities found inadequate fire safety measures during inspection.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the families of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Chief minister Sawant announced an additional Rs 5 lakh compensation for the next of kin of the victims and Rs 50,000 for those injured.

Investigations into possible safety violations, overcrowding and lapses in emergency preparedness at the club are ongoing.