At least 25 people have been killed in a fire at a nightclub in Goa, an Indian state popular for its nightlife and tourism.
Several tourists were among the 25 dead in the fire, which broke out at about midnight at Birch by Romeo Lane, a popular restaurant, cocktail bar and club in Arpora, a district of north Goa.
“Today is a very painful day for all of us in Goa,” said the chief minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant.
“I visited the incident site and have ordered an inquiry into this incident,. Those found responsible will face most stringent action under the law – any negligence will be dealt with firmly.”
It was reported that upwards of 100 people were in the venue when the fire started, during a live music performance which included a band and a bellydancer. In a video, flames could be seen emerging from behind the stage behind the musicians.
According to officials, the fire started on the first floor and then engulfed the rest of the building. A preliminary inquiry by police suggested most of those who died were trapped in the basement area of the club and suffocated.
Firefighters worked through the night to suppress the fire and rescue those trapped. Images from the scene showed vast flames ripping through the building as it was reduced to a blackened shell and investigators combed the wreckage on Sunday morning.
Most of the dead were the club’s workers who had been in the basement at the time of the fire, said officials. Sawant told journalists at the scene that “three to four” tourists had died but the process of identifying the dead was ongoing.
Speaking to the Indian Express, a Goa police official said that many of the guests had been gathered on the first floor for a live music show when a fire started at about 11.45pm
He said: “In the ensuing panic and chaos, many guests ran towards the exit and reached safety. The staff members working in the basement were effectively trapped because it lacked an exit and was engulfed in smoke. Some guests also seem to have rushed towards the basement and got trapped.”
A police report filed after the incident said the venue was operating with proper licenses and “did not have an emergency exit door on the ground floor as well as on the deck floor to evacuate in case of emergency”.
The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, described the fire as “deeply saddening”.
Goa, a former Portuguese colony on the shores of the Arabian Sea, lures millions of both Indian and international tourists every year with its nightlife, sandy beaches and laidback coastal atmosphere. According to government data, about 5.5 million tourists visited Goa in the first half of this year, with 270,000 visiting from abroad.
Goa politician Michael Lobo called for a fire safety audit of all the clubs. “Tourists have always considered Goa a very safe destination. The fire incident is quite disturbing, and such incidents should not happen in the future,” he said.
Fires are common in India due to poor building practices, overcrowding and a lack of adherence to safety regulations.
In May at least 17 people died after a fire ripped through a three-storey building in the Indian city of Hyderabad. A month before that a fierce blaze broke out in a hotel in Kolkata, killing at least 15 people. Some people clambered out of windows and on to the roof to escape. In 2024 at least 24 people died after a fire broke out at a packed amusement park arcade in the western state of Gujarat.
