An Indian Air Force flight has returned to India with the bodies of 45 workers who perished in a fire in Kuwait.
The blaze erupted on Wednesday in a residential building in Mangaf city, home to 176 Indian workers.
Kuwaiti authorities reported that the fire claimed 50 lives, including 45 Indians and three Filipinos, with two bodies still unidentified.
The incident also resulted in numerous injuries, predominantly affecting Indian workers.
Kuwait, heavily reliant on migrant labor for its construction and domestic sectors, has faced criticism from human rights groups over the living conditions of these workers.
Indian minister Kirti Vardhan Singh, who traveled to Kuwait following the tragedy, stated that DNA tests were conducted to identify the victims.
Among the deceased were 23 from Kerala, seven from Tamil Nadu, three each from Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, two from Odisha, and one each from Bihar, Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Haryana.
“The Indian government arranged a special Air Force flight to repatriate the bodies,” said Singh.
The flight landed in Kochi, Kerala, on Friday morning, where the remains of workers from southern states were handed over to local authorities before continuing to Delhi.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other officials were present at the airport to receive the bodies and pay their respects.
“This is a huge tragedy for our country. Kerala’s migrant workers are the lifeblood of our state. The fire in Kuwait is one of the biggest tragedies to affect our community,” Vijayan remarked.
Both state and federal governments have announced compensation for the families of the deceased workers.
In Kuwait, authorities are inspecting health and safety conditions in several buildings housing foreign workers.
The Arab Times reported that an investigation revealed the fire was triggered by an electrical short circuit in the security guard’s room on the ground floor of the six-story building.
A senior official from Kuwait’s fire department indicated that inflammable materials used as partitions between rooms and apartments exacerbated the situation.
Kuwait’s Public Prosecution department has detained a citizen and several expatriates on charges of manslaughter and negligence for failing to implement fire safety measures.
Following the fire, Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Fahad Yusuf al-Sabah criticized property owners, attributing the tragedy to their greed and violations of building standards.
Source-BBC
