At least 41 dead as fire engulfs building housing migrant workers in Kuwait

Posted on by Olivia Bennett
At least 41 dead as fire engulfs building housing migrant workers in Kuwait

At least 41 people have been killed in a fire that tore through a high-rise building housing migrant workers in the city of Mangaf in southern Kuwait on Wednesday.

The fire broke out in the kitchen of one of the lower floors of the building at around 4.30am and quickly spread to all the floors of the six-storey building.

Some 10 Indian nationals, including five from the southern state of Kerala, were killed in the fire.

Dozens of people were rescued while more than 30 people were rushed to a nearby hospital after firefighters reached the spot, a senior police commander told state TV.

“The building in which the fire occurred was used to house workers, and there was a large number of workers there,” he added.

Vehicles are parked next to a building damaged following a deadly fire, in Mangaf, southern Kuwait (REUTERS)

The building, reportedly owned by a businessman from Kerala, housed 195 migrant labourers mostly from India, according to Onmanorama.

“We always alert and warn against” cramming too many workers into housing accommodation, the police said.

The fire has been brought under control and authorities are combing the area for evidence.

Deputy prime minister Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Saud Al-Sabah visited the site and ordered an inquiry into the fire incident.

The building’s owner has been detained pending an investigation into potential negligence, he said.

He accused “greedy” real estate owners of code violations which ultimately contributed to the fire deaths. “Unfortunately, the greed of real estate owners is what leads to these matters,” he said.

India’s foreign minister said the country’s ambassador was travelling to the scene of the fire and that the country would provide the “fullest assistance to all concerned” through its embassy in Kuwait.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar offered his “deepest condolences to the families of those who tragically lost their lives”.

“Our Ambassador has gone to the camp. We are awaiting further information,” he said.

Kuwait, like other Gulf nations, is host to hundreds of thousands of Indian migrant workers, who often remit much of what they earn to families back home and live in extremely crampt conditions.

Indian nationals make up for 21 per cent of Kuwait’s 4.2 million population and nearly 30 per cent of its workforce.

Wednesday’s incident is believed to be one of the worst fire tragedies witnessed in Kuwait. In 2009, at least 57 people died when a woman allegedly seeking revenge set fire to a tent at a wedding party.

Source: independent.co.uk

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