Panaji: A viral video circulating on social media shows dancers abruptly rushing offstage as flames erupt from the roof of a Goa nightclub, moments before a massive blaze killed at least 25 people late Saturday.
The clip, apparently recorded by a visitor, captures a woman performing a belly dance to live music at Birch by Romeo Lane in North Goa’s Arpora when fire suddenly appears overhead. Performers and guests are seen fleeing in panic as the flames rapidly spread across the ceiling. In the background, people can be heard shouting, “aag lag gayi” (fire has erupted).
Watch the viral video here:
However, Orissa POST could not verify the authenticity of the video.
Police said they received a distress call about the fire around 12:04 am Sunday.
It can be mentioned here that at least 100 people were on the dance floor when the fire broke out, and in an attempt to escape, some of them ran downstairs to the kitchen, where they got trapped along with the staff, Fatima Shaikh, a tourist from Hyderabad, told the media.
“There was a sudden commotion as the flames started erupting. We rushed out of the club only to see that the entire structure was up in flames,” she said.
The nightclub was jam-packed as it was the weekend, she said.
In no time, the entire club was engulfed in flames. “There was a temporary construction made up of palm leaves which easily caught fire,” said Shaikh.
The nightclub is situated in the backwaters of the Arpora River and has a narrow entry and exit. There was no access for the fire brigades to the club because of the narrow lanes, and their tankers had to be parked about 400 metres away from the spot.
A senior officer from the Fire and Emergency Services told the media that the narrow access made it difficult to reach the spot, which in turn made controlling the blaze a challenging task.
PNN & Agencies
