North Goa Nightclub Fire Tragedy: Packed Weekend, Single Narrow Exit, Guest Scramble To Escape As Cylinder Blast Claims 25 Lives, Here’s How The Chaos Unfolded

An eyewitness claims that at least 100 people were present at the time the fire broke out on the dance floor of a nightclub in North Goa, and in their effort to escape, some of them ran down to the kitchen of the club, where they got trapped with the staff.

Packed Weekend Party Turns Deadly, 25 Killed

At least 25 individuals died in a fire at a nightclub, Birch by Romeo Lane, in North Goa, towards the end of the night on Saturday.

The club is located in Arpora village, which is approximately 25 km away in Panaji, which is the state capital. The eyewitness says that there was a full house in the nightclub since it was a weekend.

Suddenly, there was a commotion and the fire began to burst out.

Fatima Shaikh, a Hyderabad tourist, was the first to arrive at Arpora in the early hours of Sunday when she rushed out of the club only to find out that the whole building was on fire.

Over 100 Guests Scramble to Escape

According to Shaikh, some of the tourists, who were staying at the hotel, began to run down the stairs after the fire broke out and in the commotion, they turned to the kitchen, which was on the ground floor. They (tourists) were trapped there together with other staff. Most of them managed to escape out of the club, she added.

The fire engulfed the whole club in a short period. It was a kind of temporary construction consisting of palm leaves that could easily burst into fire, said she.

Smoke and flames billow after a cylinder blast caused a fire to start at a nightclub, in North Goa, after midnight on Sunday.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday ordering a magisterial inquiry into the tragedy said that a preliminary inquiry has revealed that the fire began on the first floor of the club and the customers could not leave the premises because of congestion and the tiny doors.

Some of them hurried to the ground floor and got stuck there, he said. 

The owner and the general manager of the nightclub have been registered as an FIR would be made against them and they would be arrested, the Chief Minister said. According to him, this is the first occasion that this has occurred in Goa.

Goa police chief Alok Kumar first informed PTI that the fire was because of a cylinder blast. A large fire caused by an explosion erupted in Birch at Romeo Lane, Arpora, North Goa on 21st April, 2010, and caused the death of 25 persons, including 4 of whom were tourists, 14 who were staff and an unidentified 07 persons.

Six individuals are also injured and they are still undergoing their treatment. Fire cause is not yet ascertained. The investigation of the police and fire department is underway. Legal action is being taken.”

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