A devastating fire ripped through the popular Birch nightclub in Arpora, North Goa, late on Saturday, claiming 25 lives and leaving six others injured. The tragedy, which occurred during a packed late-night event, has exposed severe lapses in licensing and fire safety protocols at the venue.
The Night of the Tragedy
The blaze erupted around 11:45 pm on Saturday during a belly dance performance. Approximately 150 people were in the DJ area at the time. The fire is believed to have started when electric firecrackers struck the wooden ceiling, igniting it instantly. Flames engulfed the first-floor dance floor within seconds.
As smoke rapidly filled the building, panic ensued. In the chaos, many guests fled downstairs, with some becoming trapped in the basement kitchen. Twenty-three of the victims succumbed to suffocation in that confined space. Two more charred bodies were later discovered on the staircase.
The deceased included 20 staff members hailing from Assam, Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Nepal. Five tourists were also among those killed. The club's location on a salt pan, surrounded by water and with only a narrow access lane, severely hampered escape and delayed rescue operations.
Official Response and Immediate Fallout
Investigations quickly revealed that the nightclub was operating without proper licences and had blatantly flouted fire safety norms. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant dismissed initial speculation of a cylinder blast, confirming that police and fire service probes pointed to electric firecrackers as the cause. "The fire spread quickly because of the wooden ceiling," he stated.
The state government suspended three officials and announced that Chief Secretary and DGP Alok Kumar would initiate disciplinary action against them. In a significant follow-up action, the government sealed Romeo Lane at Vagator, another club owned by the same proprietors, citing inadequate fire safety measures.
Police have arrested four club staffers:
- Chief General Manager Rajiv Modak
- Gate Manager Priyanshu Thakur
- Bar Manager Rajveer Singhania
- General Manager Vivek Singh
An FIR has been registered against the Delhi-based owners, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. A police team has been dispatched to Delhi to serve arrest warrants.
Compensation and Broader Implications
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Chief Minister Sawant separately declared compensation of Rs 5 lakh for each death and Rs 50,000 for the injured.
By Saturday evening, postmortems on 17 bodies were completed, and five were handed over to their families. DGP Alok Kumar emphasized that the fire's rapid spread from the first-floor ceiling was what trapped guests in the basement.
This catastrophic incident has raised urgent and serious questions about the enforcement of fire safety standards at after-hours clubs across Goa, prompting calls for immediate and stringent audits of all such establishments.
