The fire at a Goa nightclub , which left 25 people dead, started after some firecrackers were set off during a belly dance performance, eyewitnesses said.

“We have been coming to Goa for several years. We decided to go to this club for dinner. A DJ had performed around 10 pm and everyone was dancing. At least 200 people were in the club,” said an eyewitness, who was at Birch by Romeo Lane when the fire broke out on Saturday late night.

He was part of a group of four friends from Karnataka, who were on a short vacation to Goa. The group, in their 20s, work corporate jobs and arrived in Goa on Friday for a weekend trip.

Around 11.30 pm on Saturday, during a belly dancing performance on stage, he said, the club management used some firecrackers. “Those firecrackers came in contact with

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