International media dissects fire response, regulatory gaps and fleeing club owners
PANAJI
The fatal fire that tore through Birch by Romeo Lane in Arpora last weekend has drawn a level of international attention seldom trained on Goa, thrusting the small coastal State back onto global front pages for the wrong reasons.
Global media outlets have focused sharply against the backdrop of alleged gross safety violations at the popular after-hours venue, which, until the blaze, was projected as a glamorous draw for tourists.
Within hours of the tragedy, major international organisations including the BBC, Sky News, Reuters, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, ABC (Australia) and Channel 4 began rolling coverage, each highlighting different strands of the story – from the speed and intensity of the fire to the victims’ profiles, regulatory failures and the likely impact on Goa’s tourism industry. Minute-by-minute coverage continues, with particular focus on how the Luthra brothers were able to leave the country on an IndiGo flight even as several other flights of the same airline were cancelled.
“Indian authorities ordered an investigation and offered compensation to victims after a fire ripped through a nightclub in Goa, killing 25,” Reuters said in its initial report.
“Goa, a small coastal State, is a popular tourist destination, especially among foreigners, offering beaches and hilly landscapes. About 5.5 million tourists, including 271,000 from abroad, visited Goa in the first half of the year, according to government data,” Reuters’ follow-up report added.
Opinion pieces and leader columns carried abroad have been unusually blunt. While one media outlet termed the deaths a “blow to Goa’s reputation”, Sky News and the BBC highlighted the State government’s probe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s condolences even as they questioned whether enforcement lapses played a role in the tragedy. Al Jazeera’s coverage emphasised the victims’ families and the human cost.
“The owners of a nightclub in Goa, India, where a devastating fire killed 25 people on Sunday, fled the country hours after the tragedy, police have said. Indian authorities confirmed the two brothers, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, boarded a flight to Phuket in Thailand shortly after the incident,” one of BBC’s reports stated, noting that their departure came at a time when law enforcement agencies were just beginning to piece together the circumstances surrounding the fatal blaze.
The Independent cited eyewitness accounts stating that around 100 people were on the packed dance floor when the fire erupted, while quoting witnesses who reported many fled to the kitchen area on a lower level but were trapped.
The escape of the Luthra brothers to Thailand
It further reported that police had travelled to the owners’ Delhi residence only to find they had already fled the country.
Several agencies also flagged alleged safety violations at the establishment. The Guardian reported: “Officials said the venue had contravened multiple safety regulations and that the basement had no fire safety exit. The venue’s general manager, as well as the owners and event organisers, were all arrested and charged by police on Sunday.”
International media’s India correspondents also travelled to places from where the club’s staff hailed and migrated to Goa, widening the scope of reporting beyond the fire site itself. Overseas footage and dispatches have closely examined the mechanics of the disaster, with eyewitness videos and on-site accounts.
The intense negative coverage finally prompted Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte to appeal to the public that Goa remains safe and any illegality is being dealt with an iron hand.
