Twenty five people have been killed in a fire at a popular nightclub in the coastal region of Goa, India, local officials say.The majority of victims are believed to be staff at the club in Arpora, North Goa, while tourists are also among the dead. Police believe a gas cylinder exploded in the club’s kitchen, causing a blaze to rip through the venue on Saturday at midnight local time.On Sunday morning, officials said the death toll had risen from an earlier figure of 23. Six more people are in a stable condition in hospital.The BBC has spoken to witnesses at the scene who described scenes of panic in the bustling nightlife area.”The fire was mainly concentrated around the kitchen area on the ground floor,” said Alok Kumar, Goa’s Director General of Police.”The fire occurred around midnight. It has now been brought under control.”Most of the bodies were found around the kitchen “suggesting that the victims were employed at the club,” Mr Alok Kumar added.Goa’s chief minister Pramod Sawant told journalists three people died from burn injuries, while others died by suffocating.He said “three to four” tourists had died but did not provide their ages or nationalities. The Indian Express reports the fire broke out at a club called Birch by Romeo Lane at Baga, located at the one of the coastal region’s most popular beaches.The area where the fire occurred is lined with similar nightlife hotspots, where tourists and partygoers can be seen pouring out of the bustling clubs.A chef who works at a nearby venue told the BBC he knew some of the workers at the Birch club.”People from all over the country and also from Nepal work in different clubs in Goa,” he said.”I am really worried for some people who I knew at the club. Their phones are off.”Rescue efforts were still ongoing in the early hours of Sunday morning. Crews were combing through the charred …
