A fire at a nightclub in Goa late Saturday night killed 25 people and injured several more. While the cause of the fire is not known yet, investigators said a preliminary inquiry suggests most victims died of suffocation as they were “trapped” in the club’s basement area . The fire appears to have started on the club’s first floor and later engulfed the entire premises, according to the preliminary probe.

In many incidents of fire in public spaces, specially enclosed areas like restaurants, clubs, offices or cinema halls, most fatalities are because of suffocation and not flames. Here is why this happens, and how one can stay safe.

Leading cause of death in fires

Various studies in India and the world have shown that when a fire breaks out, most fatalities are not because of burns,

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