25 people dead in Goa nightclub fire as tourists describe stampede
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On Sunday, 25 people died and 6 people were injured in a fire that broke out in a nightclub in Arpora in India’s coastal state of Goa.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said in X that he had ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident and that the condition of all six injured people was stable.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the incident “deeply regrettable”.
“My thoughts are with all those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon. I spoke to Goa CM Dr. Pramod Sawant Ji about the situation. The State Government is providing all possible assistance to those affected,” Modi said.
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The charred interior of a nightclub that caught fire early Sunday is seen in Arpora, Goa, India, on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)
Press Trust of India (PTI), the country’s largest independent news agency reported this Police initially pointed to a cylinder explosion as the possible cause, but a surviving tourist told the agency that fireworks exploding during a dance routine likely sparked the fire.
A woman identified as Riya, a tourist from New Delhi, told PTI that fireworks went off while the dancers were performing.
“The fire must have started because of this. There was a stampede-like situation,” he said.
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People stand outside Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub, which has been sealed off pending investigation after a fire that killed multiple people, on December 7, 2025 in Goa, India. (Ali Monis Naqvi/Reuters)
Another tourist, Fatima Shaikh, told PTI that more than 100 people were on the dance floor at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub when the fire broke out and some of them fled towards the kitchen and got trapped along with the staff.
“When the flames started to erupt, there was sudden chaos. We rushed out of the club but saw that the entire structure was in flames,” he said.
The nightclub that caught fire in the early hours of Sunday is seen across a large body of water at Arpora in Goa, India, on Sunday, December 7, 2025. (AP Photo)
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Preliminary investigation showed that the fire started on the first floor, where traffic congestion and narrow exits prevented people from escaping, PTI reported.
“Some of them ran to the ground floor and got trapped there,” Sawant said. “We will take action against the club management as well as the authorities who allowed the club to operate despite violating safety norms. This is an unfortunate incident during the peak tourist season.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
