Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday confirmed that four Delhi tourists and 21 staff mem bers from Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Nepal were among those who died in the blaze, which forensic teams have traced to elec trical pyrotechnics used inside the club. “There was no blast. The extensive wooden interiors caused the fire to spread rapidly,” Sawant said. In a sharp indictment of the nightclub’s safety vi olations, Sawant revealed that the premises had only two exits, leaving many trapped. Forensic findings indicate that 23 of the 25 victims died due to suffo cation in the underground kitchen area where they attempted to escape. The State government has suspended three offi cials for alleged dereliction of duty: former Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) Member Secretary Dr Shamila Monteiro, then Director of Panchayats Sid dhi Halarnkar and then Arpora-Nagoa Panchayat Secretary Raghuvir Bagkar. Sawant said more discipli nary action against negli gent officials is imminent. Police have arrested Chief General Manager Ra jiv Modak, General Manag er Vivek Singh, Rajiv Sin ghania and Gate Manager Diyansu Thakur. An FIR has also been registered against owners Saurav and Gaurav Luthra, with a police team dispatched to Delhi to trace them. Sawant announced that a high-level committee headed by the Secretary (Revenue), with officials from police, PWD (build ing safety) and finance, has been tasked with con ducting safety audits of all clubs, bars, restaurants and entertainment venues across Goa.
The panel will frame mandatory SOPs for fire and struc tural safety. A magisterial inquiry headed by the North Goa District Magistrate — with the SP South, Deputy Collector, Director of Fire and Emergency Services and Director of Forensics as members — has been ordered, with a report due in one week. Sawant said he has instructed the Chief Secretary and DGP to initiate action against any government official who facilitated non-compliant operations. “All owners, promot ers and government officers who enabled illegal or unsafe functioning will face strict action. No one will be spared,” he asserted, calling it the biggest tragedy in Goa’s tourism history. The State will assist in transporting bodies to the vic tims’ home states and Nepal. Goa has announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured. The Centre has separately declared Rs 2 lakh for the kin of victim and Rs 50,000 for the injured.
