ARPORA: A massive fire at the popular Arpora nightclub Birch in North Goa late Saturday killed 25 people, including five tourists, and injured six. Flames erupted around 11.45pm during a belly-dance performance and engulfed the first-floor dance floor within seconds.Around 150 people were in the DJ area when the blaze broke out, with the dancer performing to Mehbooba O Mehbooba when the fire was first noticed.
Electric firecrackers are believed to have struck the wooden ceiling, igniting the blaze. Smoke quickly filled the building, triggering panic. Some guests fled downstairs to the basement kitchen, where 23 victims suffocated. Two charred bodies were later found on the staircase.The deceased included 20 staffers from Assam, Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Nepal, alongside five tourists. The club, located on a salt pan and surrounded by water, had only a narrow access lane, which trapped revellers and delayed rescue efforts. Investigations revealed the nightclub was operating without proper licences and flouted fire safety norms. Three state government officials have been suspended.Also Read: Goa FireChief minister Pramod Sawant said the chief secretary and DGP Alok Kumar would initiate disciplinary action against the suspended officials. He dismissed initial speculation of a cylinder blast, noting that police and fire service investigations pointed to electric firecrackers as the cause. “The fire spread quickly because of the wooden ceiling,” he said.Postmortems on 17 bodies were completed by Saturday evening, and five were handed over to families. Following the inquiry, the state government sealed Romeo Lane at Vagator, another club owned by the same proprietors, citing inadequate fire safety measures.Police arrested four club staffers—chief general manager Rajiv Modak, gate manager Priyanshu Thakur, bar manager Rajveer Singhania, and general manager Vivek Singh. An FIR has been registered against Delhi-based owners Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. A police team is in Delhi to serve arrest warrants.Also Read | Goa club inferno: Deaths far away from home force friends to match bodies with WA pics sent by parentsPrime Minister Narendra Modi announced Rs 2 lakh ex gratia for the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. CM Sawant separately declared Rs 5 lakh for each death and Rs 50,000 to the injured.DGP Alok Kumar said the fire spread rapidly from the first-floor ceiling, trapping guests in the basement. The incident has raised urgent questions about fire safety standards at Goa’s after-hours clubs.
