Goa club fire: Kazakh dancer performed without business visa, say police

Kazakh national Kristina, who was dancing at the ‘Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub when a massive blaze erupted and claimed 25 lives, didn't have the business visa to perform in India, the police said on Tuesday.

A video was earlier circulated on social media showing the bursting of electric firecrackers and the blaze appearing from the roof of the nightclub. It shows Kristina, who was performing belly dance, and band members, rushing out in panic as the fire spread rapidly.

A senior police officer at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) told PTI that Kristina, originally from Kazakhstan, had applied for a business visa, but it is not sanctioned yet.

"She had applied for the business visa, but she had yet to get the approval," the officer said, adding that in the absence of such permission, she cannot perform professionally in India.

When contacted, Superintendent of Police (FRRO) Arshi Adil told PTI that they are "still inquiring into whether she had a business visa.

Kristina, who goes by her Instagram name Kristina Sheikh, is a professional dancer with 272,000 followers.

Videos posted on her profile indicate that she had been performing regularly at the nightclub.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had told reporters that electric firecrackers were the prima facie cause of the tragedy that claimed 25 lives, including 20 staff members and five tourists.

Eyewitnesses had said that the fatalities occurred due to narrow exits in the nightclub, located in the backwater of the Arpora river.