Goa nightclub fire: Owners fled to Thailand, says police

The massive nightclub fire in Goa that killed 25 has now led its two owners to flee the country, said the police.

The shocking incident of a massive fire at the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora, Goa, claiming 25 lives, including most of the staff and a family from Delhi, has its owners flying to Thailand after the incident, said the police. SaurabhLuthra and his brother Gaurav, two Delhi businessmen, have fled the country and flown to Thailand.

Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra have fled to Thailand following the fire.

On late Saturday, 25 people were killed in the unfortunate fire incident at the Arpora, Goa’s nightclub, the Birch by Romeo Lane, owned by two brothers and businessmen from Delhi, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra. The two brothers have now fled the country and flown to Thailand, said police on Monday. They took flight IndiGo 6E 1073 from Delhi to Phuket at 5.30 am on December 7, Sunday, as per the Goa Police’s statement. This was just hours after the blaze, as the police received a call about the tragedy at 12.04 am on Sunday. Police, who reached their residence in Delhi on Monday, couldn’t find them. Later in the day, the police statement said the brothers fled the country.

SaurabhLuthra on the fire tragedy at his Goa nightclub.

On Instagram, Saurabh on Monday had posted, “The management expresses profound grief and is deeply shaken by the tragic loss of lives resulting from the unfortunate incident at Birch.” He also offered assistance and support to families of victims in “every possible form.” The massive fire at his nightclub in Arpora, a coastal village in north Goa, broke out possibly after a cooking-gas cylinder blast. A probe is on to find the cause and fix responsibility, said Goa CM PramodSawant, constituting a 4-member magisterial inquiry committee.

A lookout notice was issued by the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) against the Luthra brothers on Sunday evening.