25 dead after fire engulfs Goa superclub in India

The Birch nightclub is a charred ruin after a fire that broke out at midnight in Goa. Photo / Atish Naik, AFP

A massive fire has torn through a nightclub in one of India’s most popular beach resorts, killing at least 25 people including tourists. Musicians were playing on stage when the fire broke through the ceiling and engulfed the club in a matter of minutes. On video recorded inside the club as the fire took hold, guests were heard screaming as they fled the venue.

The blaze started just after midnight on Sunday (local time) when a gas cylinder exploded near the kitchen of Birch by Romeo Lane, a dance venue and restaurant in Arpora, in North Goa, on India’s southwestern coast, police said.

Four tourists were among those killed, while most of the victims are believed to be the club’s kitchen staff, according to Goa’s chief minister, Pramod Sawant. Their names have not yet been released.

Birch nightclub and restaurant, promoted on Instagram as a place for “exquisite taste and breathtaking views”, was hosting a “Bollywood banger night” when the fire started.

The nightclub, along the Arpora river backwaters, had a narrow entry and exit that forced the fire brigades to park their tankers about 400m away, according to reports, hampering efforts to extinguish the blaze.

Arpora is home to around 3200 people, but attracts thousands of domestic and international tourists who seek out its tropical climate, white sandy beaches, lively bar scene and night markets.

According to witnesses, at least 100 people were on the packed dance floor when the fire broke out. In the chaos, several rushed to the kitchen below and became trapped with staff.

Authorities are investigating whether the fire occurred because the club was not following fire safety regulations.

Sawant called it a “very painful day for all of us in Goa” and offered his condolences to the bereaved families “in this hour of unimaginable loss”.

He announced he had ordered an inquiry into the fire and vowed that any negligence will be “dealt with firmly”.

Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister, called the deaths “deeply saddening”.

“My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones,” Modi said in a post on X on Sunday.

“May the injured recover at the earliest.

“The state government is providing all possible assistance to those affected.”

Footage taken outside the luxury club showed the entire structure, engulfed in dark red flames.

Fatima Shaikh, who managed to escape, described how fast the fire spread. “We rushed out of the club only to see that the entire structure was up in flames,” she told local news.

In recent years, India has had a number of deadly fires in entertainment venues.

In April, a blaze in a hotel killed at least 15 people in Kolkata and a month later, 17 were killed when a fire erupted in a three-storey building in Hyderabad.

Last year, 24 people died after a fire broke out at an amusement park arcade in the western state of Gujarat. An inquiry later found that poor safety standards were partly responsible for the high death toll.

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