25 killed in Goa nightclub blaze

Panaji: A jampacked nightclub in North Goa turned into a death trap after midnight on Sunday as a massive fire tore through it, claiming 25 lives and leaving six injured while raising serious questions about `illegal' operations and flouting of safety norms.

While the police said earlier in the day that a cylinder blast seemed to have started the blaze, a tourist who survived the tragedy claimed that fireworks were set off when dancers were performing, and it was the likely cause.

Most of the deaths were caused by suffocation, as the victims, many of them employees, got trapped on the ground floor of `Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub at Arpora, 25 km from Panaji, a fire official said.

While Chief Minister Pramod Sawant vowed action against officials who allowed the club to operate despite flouting safety rules, and an FIR was registered against the owners, a village official claimed that the structure itself was illegal.The deceased included four tourists and 14 staff members, while the identity of the remaining seven was yet to be established, police said. The establishment did not possess even an NOC from the fire department or the permission to sell liquor, a Congress leader alleged.

"We have registered an FIR (First Information Report) against Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, the owners, under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita sections," a senior police officer said. An FIR was also registered against the club manager and event organisers, he said, adding that the sarpanch of Arpora-Nagoa, Roshan Redkar, who had issued a trade license for the club in 2013, was detained.

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among others, expressed grief over the tragedy. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund will be given to the next of kin of each deceased and the injured would be given Rs 50,000, the PMO said.

A preliminary inquiry indicated that the fire started on the first floor, and due to congestion and small doors, customers could not move out. "Some of them rushed to the ground floor and got trapped there," CM Sawant said.

At least 100 persons were on the dance floor, and in an attempt to escape the fire, some of them ran downstairs to the kitchen where they got trapped with the staff, Fatima Shaikh, a tourist from Hyderabad, said. "There was a sudden commotion as the flames started erupting. We rushed out of the club only to see that the entire structure was up in flames," she said. The nightclub was jam-packed as it was the weekend, she said. In no time, the entire club was engulfed in flames.