Guwahati, Dec 8 (PTI) Families of the three men from Assam who died in the Goa nightclub fire on Monday said their children were forced to migrate to the western state due to the lack of livelihood opportunities in their area.
The three were working at the nightclub in Arpora when a fire broke out shortly after midnight on Sunday, killing at least 25 people and injuring six others.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a post on X, said, “Deeply anguished by the tragic loss of lives in the Arpora fire incident in Goa, where three of our own, lost their precious lives. Shri Rahul Tanti, Cachar, Shri Manojit Mal, Cachar, Shri Diganta Patir, Dhemaji. Offering my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. Praying for the swift recovery of all those injured.” The bodies of Manojit Mal (24) and Rahul Tanti (60), both working in the nightclub kitchen, have been handed over to relatives who were also working in Goa, while Dignata Patir’s elder brother, who works in Kerala, has already left for Goa to collect the body.
Patir was a cook in the nightclub.
The family members of the deceased claimed that they had yet to be informed by the authorities about the arrangements being made to bring their bodies home.
Relatives of Mal and Tanti alleged that the two had to leave their village and the state because of the lack of employment options.
Both belonged to the tea tribe community, and villagers said poor conditions in the tea gardens of Barak Valley had forced many youths to migrate for work.
Patir’s mother said both her sons were employed in distant states such as Goa and Kerala, as livelihood opportunities were scarce in Dhemaji, a district frequently hit by floods and erosion.
A jampacked nightclub in North Goa turned into a death trap after midnight on Sunday as a massive fire tore through it, claiming 25 lives and leaving six injured while raising serious questions about `illegal’ operations and flouting of safety norms.
While police said that a cylinder blast seemed to have started the blaze, a tourist who survived the tragedy claimed that fireworks were set off when dancers were performing, and it was the likely cause.
Most of the deaths were caused by suffocation, as the victims, many of them employees, got trapped on the ground floor of `Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub at Arpora, 25 km from Panaji, a fire official said. PTI DG RG MNB
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