Four out of the five tourists killed in a fire at a club in Goa on Saturday night were from Karawal Nagar in North-East Delhi. In all, 25 were killed in the incident.
On Sunday, the neighbours of the deceased — four of the same family — gathered outside their double-storey house. The bodies had not reached till evening, yet the neighbourhood stood in quiet vigil. A white tent has been erected outside the house to accommodate the steady flow of visitors. Inside, sat Vinod Kumar’s elderly mother surrounded by relatives.
People said she was not told yet that her younger son, her daughter-in-law and two other members of the family had died. “Woh ro toh rahi hain… par unko abhi tak poori baat nahi batayi gayi (She has been crying… but has not been told about the entire incident yet),” a neighbour said.
The four members of the family who died in the blaze are Vinod Kumar, his sister-in-laws Anita Joshi and Saroj Joshi, and his elder brother’s wife Kamla. Vinod’s wife Bhavana survived. The group had left for Goa on December 3 and were scheduled to return on Monday.
According to Goa Police, the inquest proceedings were completed for Vinod and Saroj, while post-mortem of Kamla’s and Anita’s bodies were pending, as of Sunday night. “Nobody knows when the bodies will arrive…people have been gathering here since morning,” said Anju, a neighbour.
The locality — a cluster of narrow lanes, uneven roads and a long nallah running parallel to the houses — is home to families who migrated from Uttarakhand in the 1980s and 1990s. Over the years, many have built larger homes and in many live joint families. “I have been staying here since 1985…their family had arrived just 2-3 years after us. Our families have known each other ever since. They have been good neighbours…would never get into any fight,” said Rajesh Shah.
Another neighbour scrolled through a photo of Vinod dressed as Ram for a Ramlila event. Others spoke about festivals, bhajan gatherings and evenings spent together. “We are all from Uttarakhand. My husband has known them since his childhood, my mother-in-law is good friends with Vinod’s mother — this feels like a personal loss,” said Sushma.
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Vinod dealt with insurance and finance. Vinod and Bhavana have a 10-year-old son and five-year-old daughter.
Neighbours remained outside the house till late evening — some seen bringing tea for those who had not left since morning. Every fresh rumour about the bodies getting dispatched from Goa travelled quickly, followed by silence again. “Jab bodies aayengi… Puri gali toot jayegi (When the bodies will arrive, the entire lane will break down),” Sushma added.
Inside, the family waited, still trying to protect the mother from the pain the news would carry.
