Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said most of those killed were kitchen workers at the club, and three women were also among them. He further said that three to four tourists were also among those who died. Fatima Sheikh, a tourist from Hyderabad, said in Arpora on Sunday morning, ‘As soon as the fire started, there was a sudden commotion. When we ran out of the club, we saw that the entire structure was engulfed in flames.
Weekend crowd and dance floor
He said that since it was the weekend, the night club was packed and there were at least 100 people on the dance floor. Sheikh said that after the fire, some tourists started running down and in this stampede went to the kitchen on the ground floor. He further said, ‘They (tourists) got stuck there along with other staff. Many people managed to get out of the club. Within moments, the entire club was engulfed in flames.
What else did the eyewitness say?
He said, ‘There was a temporary structure made of palm leaves which caught fire easily.’ The night club is in the backwaters of Arpora river and has narrow entry and exit. Due to narrow streets, the fire brigade could not reach the club and their tankers had to be parked about 400 meters away from the spot. A senior officer of Fire and Emergency Services said that due to the narrow road, it became difficult to reach the spot, which made controlling the fire a difficult task.
Most deaths due to suffocation
He said most of the deaths were due to suffocation as the victims were trapped in the basement on the ground floor. There have been a total of 25 deaths, out of which 23 died due to suffocation and 2 due to burning. CM Sawant, who reached the spot after the incident, told reporters that the night club had not followed fire safety norms. Sawant said he would order an inquiry into the incident, while action would be initiated against the club management and officials who allowed the club to function.
Who ran the night club?
Arpora-Nagoa Panchayat Sarpanch Roshan Redkar said that the club was run by Saurav Luthra, who had a fight with his partner. He said, ‘There was a fight between them and they had filed complaints against each other in the panchayat. We inspected the place and found that they did not have permission to build the club. Redkar said that the Panchayat had issued a demolition notice, which was put on hold by the Panchayat Directorate officials.
action will happen now
He said that the original owner of the place had sublet the place to Luthra. He said, ‘The fire incident that happened was unfortunate. We are issuing notices to those places which are seen violating the rules. Now, we have to be more cautious. Calangute BJP MLA Michael Lobo visited the site after the incident. He said that local panchayats will conduct fire safety audit of all night clubs to ensure that such incidents do not happen again. He said that Calangute Panchayat will issue a notice to all night clubs on Monday, asking them to give fire safety permission.
Goa Night Club Fire
