Over 40 Indians among 49 killed in Kuwait fire tragedy

Over 40 Indians were killed and more than 50 others injured on Wednesday after a major fire broke out in a building housing workers in Kuwait, local officials and Gulf media reported.

The total number of people killed in the Al-Mangaf building was 49 and 42 of them are learnt to be Indians; the remaining ones are Pakistani, Filipino, Egyptian and Nepali nationals, said officials.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who described the fire incident as “saddening”, reviewed the situation at a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra and Principal Secretary to the PM PK Mishra among others.

He also announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 2 lakh to each of the families of the deceased Indian nationals from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.

The fire began in a kitchen in a six-storey building in the Mangaf area of Kuwait’s southern Ahmadi Governorate early Wednesday, officials said, adding that the building reportedly had nearly 200 people living in it who are workers of the same company.

According to Malayalam media reports, the building reportedly belongs to the NBTC Group, headed by Malayali businessman KG Abraham.

Officials said that the majority of those deceased were Indian nationals from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and north Indian states, with ages ranging between 20 and 50 years. They added that most deaths were due to smoke inhalation while residents were sleeping, and a significant number of occupants were evacuated.

Three Keralites who died in the mishap have been reportedly identified as Umarudheen Shameer, 33, of Sooranad in Kollam, Akash Sasidharan, 23 of Pandalam and Renjith of Kundadukkam in Kasaragod. As per reports, seven injured are in a critical state out of which five are on ventilator support.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar urging him to direct the Indian Embassy to get in touch with the Kuwait government to coordinate relief and rescue operations in the fire incident at Mangaf in the Gulf country.

“It is reported that several Indians, including some from Kerala, have lost their lives or succumbed to serious injuries in this unfortunate incident,” the Chief Minister said in his letter.

Sources said that five firefighters sustained injuries during the rescue operation. They added that victims suffocated from rising smoke after the fire broke out on the ground floor.

“Unfortunately, we received a report of a fire at… exactly 6:00 am (0300 GMT) in the Mangaf area,” said Director General of the Forensic Department, Major General Eid Al-Owaihan during a visit to the site. Forensic teams have identified three of the bodies, he added.