At least 100 persons were on the dance floor of a nightclub in North Goa when a fire broke out there, and in an attempt to escape, some of them ran downstairs to its kitchen where they got trapped along with the staff, according to an eyewitness.
While the state police said the blaze occurred at the nightclub due to a cylinder blast after midnight on Sunday, some of the eyewitnesses claimed the fire started on the club's first floor, where tourists were dancing.
At least 23 persons were killed in the fire at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub, a popular party venue at Arpora village, located 25 km from the state capital Panaji, police said.
Most of the dead were the club's kitchen workers, and included three women, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said.
There were "three to four tourists' among those killed, he added. "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," Fatima Shaikh, a tourist from Hyderabad, told PTI at Arpora in the wee hours of Sunday.
The nightclub was jam-packed as it was the weekend, and at least 100 persons were on the dance floor, she said.
Shaikh said that after the blaze erupted, some of the tourists started running downstairs and, in the melee, went to the kitchen located on the ground floor.
"They (tourists) got trapped there along with other staff. Many managed to run out of the club,' she added. In no time, the entire club was engulfed in the fire.
"There was a temporary construction made up of palm leaves which easily caught fire," she said. -- PTI