NEW DELHI -- A fire ripped through a popular nightclub in India's Goa state, killing 25 people, including tourists, the state's chief minister said Sunday.

The blaze occurred just past midnight in Arpora village in North Goa, a party hub, some 25 kilometers (15-miles) from the state capital, Panaji.

Goa's Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said most of the dead were the club's kitchen workers, as well as three to four tourists. Six people were injured and are in stable condition, he said. All the bodies have been recovered.

The fire was caused by a gas cylinder blast and has been extinguished, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, quoting local police. However, witnesses told the agency that the fire began on the club's first floor, where nearly 100 tourists were on the dance floor.

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