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Fire Accident
The Goa police on Tuesday detained Ajay Gupta, one of the four owners of 'Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub, where a devastating fire claimed the lives of 25 persons. The state police had earlier issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against Gupta and another owner Surinder Kumar Khosla. "We have detained Ajay Gupta, one of the owners of the nightclub. This is the sixth person to be held in connection with the case," a Goa police spokesperson said. "Earlier, an LOC was issued against him as a police team had failed to find him at his Delhi residence when it visited it there," he said, adding that Gupta was later found in the national capital and was detained. He will soon be placed under arrest after the completion of formalities to bring him to Goa, the official said. Two more owners of the nightclub - Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra - are on the run and a blue corner notice has been issued against them. The police have so far arrested five persons - nightclub's chief general manager .
The Goa Police has approached the CBI for issuance of an Interpol Blue Notice against Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, the main accused and owners of the Goa nightclub where a massive blaze claimed 25 lives, after they fled the country, officials said Tuesday. Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, the owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora where the incident happened on Saturday, are believed to have fled to Phuket, Thailand, hours after the tragedy, the Goa Police said on Monday. The Interpol Blue Notice is issued to collect additional information about a person's identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation. The agency is in touch with the Interpol regarding the request of the Goa Police to track the fugitives. The Red Notice which calls for detention of the fugitive can only be issued after a charge sheet is filed and a Non Bailable Warrant is issued against the wanted person. "Goa Police have taken further steps to coordinate with the Interpol
About a third of Hong Kong 's registered voters elected a new 90-member legislature Sunday, a turnout that avoided an embarrassment for the government but fell short of a ringing endorsement of an electoral system revamp that eliminated the once feisty opposition in the Chinese territory. The turnout rate reached 31.9%, surpassing the 30.2% in the 2021 election, the first held under the new system. It was much lower than before the electoral changes, when turnout topped 50%. Many of the city's 4.1 million eligible voters, especially democracy supporters, have turned away from politics since a crackdown that has stifled dissent. Candidates must now go through a vetting process that ensures they are patriots who are loyal to the Chinese government. The government says the changes were needed to bring stability after massive anti-government protests in 2019. The government launched a major campaign to drive up turnout, adding polling stations, extending voting hours and holding candida
At least 23 persons were killed in a blaze at a nightclub in North Goa following a cylinder blast late Saturday night, police said. Most of the dead were the club's kitchen workers, and included three women, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said. There were three to four tourists among those killed, he added. Sawant, who rushed to the spot, told reporters that of the 23, three succumbed to burn injuries and the others died due to suffocation. As per initial information, the nightclub had not abided by the fire safety norms, the chief minister said. The fire broke out at Birch by Romeo Lane after midnight. The popular party venue at Arpora village, around 25 km from the state capital Panaji, opened last year, We will take action against the club management and also against the officials who allowed it to operate despite flouting safety norms, Sawant said. This is an unfortunate incident during the peak tourist season in the coastal state, Sawant said. We will conduct a detailed ...
A devastating fire at Birch By Romeo Lane, a nightclub at Arpora in North Goa, which killed at least 25 people early Sunday brought back horrific memories of the deadly blaze that claimed 62 lives at a nightclub in North Macedonia in March this year. Here's a look at some other nightclub fires that claimed significant human lives in the past decade: * October 2015: Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest, Romania, killed 64 people. Pyrotechnics during a performance by the metalcore band Goodbye to Gravity ignited the club's flammable polyurethane acoustic foam. The fire spread rapidly. * December 2016: Ghost Ship' warehouse fire in Oakland, California, claimed 36 lives. The deadliest blaze in the history of Oakland was triggered during an electronic music and dance party. * January 2022: Fire at nightclub in Yaounde, Cameroon, killed 16 people. Blaze occurred due to fireworks lit while champagne was being served in the club. * January 2022: 19 killed in fire at Sorong nightclub in We
Hong Kong voters are casting ballots Sunday in their second legislative election since a 2021 overhaul of the system eliminated the pro-democracy opposition in the Chinese territory. The poll, coming less than two weeks after an apartment fire that killed at least 159 people, is a possible test of public sentiment about the government's handling of the tragedy. The focus is on voter turnout, which fell to about 30% in the last election in 2021, after the overhaul dampened interest. Some analysts believe mounting public anger over government accountability in the blaze could suppress turnout further. City leader John Lee has called on citizens to vote, saying Friday it would send a signal on promoting reforms. He said he would put forth a proposal to the new legislature on how to support the victims, many who have been left homeless by the fire. The polls close at 11:30 pm. Deadly blaze stalled get-out-the-vote efforts Election campaigning was suspended after the fire and remained
Hong Kong's national security police arrested a man on Saturday in the first publicly confirmed arrest relating to criticism of authorities over a high-rise apartment blaze that killed at least 159 people. Police said he had been accused of posting information with seditious intention on social media. That mainly included (materials intending to) incite hatred among (others) toward the Hong Kong government and the central government, Steve Li, chief superintendent of the police National Security Department, told reporters. For example, he pointed to the Hong Kong and the central governments as instigators of exploiting the tragedy to cause chaos and turmoil, he said. That's something totally impossible. Local media reported other arrests earlier but authorities have not confirmed them. The fire, which broke out November 26 at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex, has prompted a debate about government accountability. Authorities have warned against attempts to use the fire to try t
Hong Kong will set up an independent commission of inquiry headed by a judge to determine the cause of a deadly apartment block fire that shocked the city and make recommendations to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again, its leader said Tuesday. John Lee, the chief executive of the Chinese region, pledged to overcome vested interests and pursue accountability for a fire that killed at least 151 people. We must uncover the truth, ensure that justice is served, let the deceased rest in peace and provide comfort to the living, he told the media at a 30-minute weekly appearance completely dominated by last week's blaze. The fire started in scaffolding that had been set up around the Wang Fuk Court complex for maintenance work and spread to seven of the eight towers. They were home to more than 4,600 people and many have been left homeless. The initial investigation has focused on why the fire expanded so rapidly, overwhelming firefighting efforts. Authorities have cited both
Donations for victims of a Hong Kong fire that killed at least 146 people and left thousands homeless reached 900 million Hong Kong dollars (USD 115 million), authorities said on Monday, in a massive outpouring of sympathy and support. But as questions grew over who to blame for the deadly blaze, the government appeared to be moving swiftly to stifle criticism. A steady stream of people placed flowers, cards and other tributes at a makeshift memorial near the burned-out block of buildings, after long lines of mourners during the weekend. When something happens, we come out to help each other, said Loretta Loh, after paying her regards at the site. I have a heavy heart. The fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon at the Wang Fuk Court complex in the suburb of Tai Po. It burned through seven of eight apartment towers, home to some 4,600 people, and wasn't fully extinguished until Friday morning. Hong Kong police Disaster Victim Identification Unit staff went through four of the buildi
A steady stream of people placed bouquets of white roses, carnations, lilies and other flowers Sunday at a makeshift memorial outside the blackened buildings of a Hong Kong apartment complex that went up in flames, killing at least 128 people in one of the city's deadliest blazes. Many bowed toward the scene of the fire and said short prayers, or left handwritten notes among the flowers. There has been an outpouring of support and sympathy, with thousands of city residents visiting the site of the fire to pay tribute to the dead and donate supplies to those who lost everything in the blaze, which started Wednesday and took until Friday to fully extinguish. The eight buildings of the Wang Fuk Court complex in the suburb of Tai Po had all been clad in bamboo scaffolding draped with nylon netting for renovations, with windows covered by polystyrene panels, and authorities are now investigating whether fire codes were violated. Hong Kong officials announced late Saturday they had order
Two tankers were struck and caught fire in the Black Sea, Turkish authorities reported, prompting rescue operations. Crew members on board both vessels were reported to be safe. The OpenSanctions database, which tracks people or organisations involved in sanctions evasion, described the vessels as shadow fleet or vessels used to evade sanctions imposed on Russia following its 2022 invasion of Russia. Turkey's Directorate General of Maritime Affairs said the first tanker, the Gambian-flagged Kairos, caught fire in the Black Sea, approximately 45 km off the coast of Turkey's Kocaeli province. It blamed on the fire on an external impact, without providing details. The Kairos was sailing empty toward Russia's Novorossiysk port, it said. Within the hour, the maritime authority reported that a second tanker, Virat, was struck while sailing in the Black Sea about 35 nautical miles off the Turkish coast. It did not provide further details. Rescue teams were dispatched to the scene to pro
Firefighters battled for a second day to extinguish a blaze at a high-rise apartment complex in Hong Kong on Thursday, as the death toll rose to 94 in one of the deadliest blazes in the city's modern history. Rescuers holding flashlights were going from apartment to apartment at the charred towers as thick smoke poured out from some windows at the Wang Fuk Court complex, a dense cluster of buildings housing thousands of people in Tai Po district, a northern suburb near Hong Kong's border with the mainland. Officials said firefighters were still working on a handful of apartments and trying to enter all of the units in the seven towers to ensure there were no further casualties. Our firefighting operation is almost complete, said Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fire Services Operations. Firefighters were working hard to prevent the debris and embers from flaring up. What's next is the search and rescue operation, he added. It was unclear how many people remained missing or
While the exact cause of the deadly inferno that swept across a Hong Kong apartment complex remains unknown, questions have been raised about the role of the bamboo scaffolding that enveloped the buildings at the time of the fire. The blaze, which has left at least 94 dead, has focused attention on the use of the ancient construction technique dating back over 1,000 years. Bamboo poles lashed together using wire and other strong materials are often found at construction sites in Southeast Asia. Hong Kong is one of the few major cities where such scaffolding is a common sight. Officials said Wednesday's fire started on the external scaffolding of a 32-story tower in the suburb of Tai Po, spread to the inside of the building and then to six other towers, likely aided by windy conditions. Officials are investigating why the scaffolding and other construction materials used in renovations to the outsides of the buildings caught fire. Bamboo is a fast-growing plant that forms tall, hol