North Goa : At least 25 people were killed in a fire at Birch by Romeo Lane , a popular nightclub in Arpora village, North Goa, police said. Most of the victims were kitchen staff, including three women, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant confirmed. “There were three to four tourists among those killed,” he added.

Eyewitnesses said that at the time of the blaze, at least 100 people were on the dance floor of the club. Some tried to escape by running downstairs to the kitchen, where they became trapped along with staff.

“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 in the early hours of Sunday.

Shaikh added: “The nightclub was jam-packed as

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