Arpita Srivastava | Mapusa
Delhi tourist Nikhilesh Paropkari had a narrow escape thanks to the delayed arrival of his cab. Paropkari arrived at the airport at around 10.30 pm on Saturday and was supposed to visit the Arpora club that went up in flames just over an hour later.
“When we came here, we saw pollution and after some time we learnt that a fire had broken out here. Luckily, we arrived late, and thank god for the delay,”
he said.
After the fire, people could be seen gathering at the site desperately searching for information about their friends, who were in the club. Among them was a youth who is a chef at the club, and was luckily off on the day. He had come looking for his friend who was on night duty and not responding
to calls.
Meanwhile, Avi from Delhi NCR, who was right outside the venue, said, “Luckily, I wasn’t in the club but was right outside. I witnessed the incident. I am still shivering. I managed to speak to a lady who was with her three sisters and her husband who did not make it. The lady is from Delhi NCR. One of her sisters was newlywed. The situation was terrifying. It took 40 minutes for the authorities to reach the spot.” Avi said that another person, a relative of the security guard of the building he stayed in, had joined the job a day before.“He was trapped in the basement and died of suffocation.”
“This fire is gross negligence on the part of the hotel. The exit was hardly 2-metre wide.”
Jayesh Divkar, a staff member at Birch, said, “The incident occurred at around 11.45 when some staff said fire broke out and let the staff out. In no time the place was in flames. We tried to control the fire with water and fire extinguishers but the fire increased. All the staff are non-Goan.”
