The Goa nightclub fire that killed 25 people on Sunday has left a neighbourhood in Delhi’s Karawal Nagar shattered after four members of one family, all part of the same vacation group, were confirmed dead. A fifth member, Bhavna Joshi, survived with injuries.
The victims, Vinod Kumar (43), Kamla Joshi (42), Anita Joshi (41) and Saroj Joshi (39), had left Delhi less than a week earlier for what was supposed to be a long-awaited Goa holiday. Now, their home is filled with silence, stunned relatives and neighbours, and an elderly mother who still waits by the door, unaware that the goodbyes she said last week were the last ones.
For the four sisters, Bhavna, Kamla, Anita and Saroj, the trip was something they had been planning for months. With their children now older and a little more independent, the women finally felt they could take a short break together. Vinod, Bhavna’s husband and Kamla’s brother-in-law, joined them so the group would feel safe and supported during the journey.
They left their homes in Karawal Nagar with excitement and bulging suitcases. The fire ripped through the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora in the early hours of Sunday.
Most of the victims were staffers, but the visiting Delhi group was among those trapped inside as thick smoke filled the enclosed space. Police have said the club was operating without the necessary No Objection Certificate from the fire department and had allegedly ignored repeated notices to shut down. “I have lived next to this family for nearly 40 years. I cannot understand how four people from the same home died just because someone ignored safety rules,” said Mahipal Singh Bhandari, a long-time neighbour. His voice trembles each time he repeats the number, four.
Another relative, Harish, said the fire has reignited conversations about safety failures in public spaces. “It’s not just this club. Look at the Rajendra Nagar coaching centre incident; there were warnings there too. Crowded spaces must follow fire norms. Exits must be open. If a place is ordered shut, it shouldn’t be running secretly at night,” he said.
He believes accountability cannot stop at the club operators. “Governments must be held responsible too. You cannot look away when families lose everything. Five people left for a holiday. Four never came back.” Inside the family home, relatives have formed quiet circles of grief. But the loudest silence hangs around the children.
Vinod and Bhavna’s 11-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter have been kept away from the steady flow of mourners. Neighbours say they have not been told the truth yet; they are being distracted, comforted, and kept busy. In another part of the house, Kamla’s 18-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son have barely spoken since the news. Relatives say the teenagers kept calling their mother’s phone on Sunday, hoping she would answer and tell them she was safe. They were waiting for her to return with the souvenirs she had promised.
No one knows when, or how, the truth will be shared with Vinod’s elderly mother. She still sits by the main door, asking whether the “injured” have been shifted to a better hospital. “She thinks they will walk in any moment,” said a local resident. “No one has the courage to tell her.”
As more details of the fire emerge, anger mixes with sorrow in the narrow lanes of Karawal Nagar. The neighbourhood has come together to cook for visitors, support the stunned families, and shield the children from what awaits them. As neighbours arrive in steady streams, the truth grows heavier: a holiday planned with joy has ended in a loss so deep that no one in the lane will forget it.
