Panaji, 7 Dec

A jampacked nightclub in North Goa turned into a death trap around midnight as a massive fire tore through it, claiming 25 lives and bringing to the fore illegalities along with the laxity of government officials in enforcing rules.

Fireworks was the likely cause of the blaze at the `Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub at Arpora, 25 km from Panaji, officials said, adding that four of its staff members were arrested and owners Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, named in the FIR, too would be taken into custody soon.

At least six persons were injured in the incident. The deceased included four tourists and 14 employees, some of them from Jharkhand, while the identity of the remaining seven was yet to be established, police said.

The club, which stands in the backwater of Arpora river, allegedly did not possess even a fire department NOC, and small doors coupled with the narrow bridge leading to it made it difficult for the people to escape, fire officials said.

Preliminary inquiry revealed that "electric firecrackers" were set off inside which started the blaze at 11.45 pm on Saturday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said, adding that he has directed chief secretary Dr V Candavelou and Director General of Police Alok Kumar to identify and act against the government officials who allowed the club to operate even though it violated safety rules.

The club's chief general manager Rajiv Modak, general manager Vivek Singh, bar manager Rajiv Singhania and gate manager Riyanshu Thakur were arrested by the police, the CM said.

The government also formed a committee of South Goa Collector, Deputy Director of Fire and Emergency Services and Director of Forensic Laboratory to inquire into the incident. It has been asked to submit its report within a week.

An ex-gratia of Rs five lakh for the nearest kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured would be paid from the State Disaster Management Authority Funds, the CM said.

Arrangements would be made to take the mortal remains of the deceased to their native places, he added.

Most of the deaths were caused by suffocation, as the victims got trapped on the ground floor and in the kitchen, said a fire official.

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among others, expressed grief over the tragedy.

Riya, a tourist from Delhi who survived the fire, claimed that firecrackers burst all around when dancers were performing.

"The fire must have been caused due to this. There was a stampede-like situation," she 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, told PTI.

"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. “There was a temporary construction made up of palm leaves which easily caught fire,” said Shaikh.

There was no access for fire brigade vehicles because of the narrow lanes, and the water tankers had to be parked about 400 metres away from the spot. This made controlling the blaze a challenging task, a senior officer from the Fire and Emergency Services told PTI.

Arpora-Nagoa panchayat sarpanch Roshan Redkar said there was a dispute between the two owners of the club and they had filed a complaint against each other with the panchayat. "We had inspected the premises and found that they did not have the permission to construct the club," he said.

The panchayat had issued a demolition notice, which was stayed by the officials of the Directorate of Panchayats, Redkar claimed.

 Distraught relatives and friends of the victims gathered outside the morgue of the Goa Medical College and Hospital, anxiously awaiting information about their loved ones.

Some of them, hailing from a village in Jharkhand, said they would not accept the bodies and demanded that the nightclub owner arrange for the mortal remains to be transported back home.

Four persons from their village worked as helpers and cooks at the nightclub, they said.

The Opposition hit out at the BJP government in the state over the tragedy.

Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, said he was deeply pained by the incident. "This is not just an accident; it is a criminal failure of safety and governance," he said on X.

The state Aam Aadmi Party unit claimed the Sawant government has lost the "moral right" to stay in power.

AAP Goa president Amit Palekar, in a post on X, questioned why the government had not taken any action against the nightclub, which had allegedly not followed norms despite the issue being raised in the state assembly.

The Congress too demanded Sawant's resignation, with its Goa desk in-charge Manikrao Thakare claiming that the club had not obtained No-Objection Certificate from the fire department, nor did it have permission of the Excise Department to sell liquor.

The government has worked out measures to prevent such measures, said CM Sawant, adding that an audit of clubs which operate without permissions and the places where there is a possibility of people gathering in large numbers will be carried out.