Overview
- The blaze erupted just after midnight at Birch by Romeo Lane in Arpora, leaving 25 dead and six injured, with most victims identified as club staff and several as tourists.
- Police initially cited a suspected cylinder blast, while eyewitness accounts and preliminary remarks by officials point to the fire starting on an upper floor, with forensic findings pending.
- Congested exits, a single narrow approach road, and flammable temporary structures accelerated the fire and hampered evacuation and firefighting, leading to many deaths by suffocation near the kitchen and basement areas.
- An FIR has been registered, multiple managers have been arrested, and arrest warrants have been issued for the owners, as the state orders magisterial and forensic probes and begins wider fire-safety audits of clubs.
- The Prime Minister announced ex-gratia payments from the PMNRF for the deceased and injured, and the Goa government pledged further assistance, with some officials suspended over permitting and enforcement failures.