A fire in a nightclub in the seaside resort of Goa, in western India, left at least 23 people dead, the state’s chief minister, Pramod Sawant, announced this Sunday (7). Among the victims are tourists. The authorities are investigating the hypothesis of negligence.
The fire broke out shortly after midnight at a nightclub that was part of a hotel in Arpora in North Goa district, local police told the Press Trust of India (PTI).
“Today is a very painful day for all of us in Goa. A serious fire in Arpora has claimed the lives of 23 people,” Sawant wrote in X.
The chief minister told reporters at the scene that “three or four” tourists were among the dead. He explained that three people died of burns, while the others suffered from asphyxiation.
“I visited the scene of the incident and ordered an investigation into this event,” he said, adding that “those responsible will face the strictest sanctions provided by law; any negligence will be punished firmly.”
According to Sawant, this “tragic accident should never have happened” because “the establishment was operating without proper licensing, and this negligence contributed to the fire.”
He did not provide details on the nationality of the victims, whether Indian or foreign.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a statement that he was “deeply saddened.”
Local media, citing police sources, suggested that the fire may have been caused by an exploding gas cylinder.
Goa Fire Chief Nitin V. Raiker told CNN News18 that “most people died of asphyxiation in the basement and kitchen” after “a pyrotechnic show set the wooden parts of the nightclub on fire, filling the entire establishment with smoke.”
Goa, a former Portuguese colony on the Arabian Sea, attracts millions of tourists each year with its nightlife, beaches and laid-back coastal atmosphere.
With AFP
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