Kuwait: At least 49 people, including 11 Malayalis, were killed in a massive fire that broke out in a six-storey building in Mangaf Block of Ahmadi province in Kuwait on Wednesday. According to reports, the casualties also include people from other Indian states like Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
Among the dead is 33-year-old Umarudheen Shameer of Oyoor in Kollam. The condition of seven out of the 35 admitted in the ICU is said to be critical. At least five people are on ventilator support. It is being said that more than 40 Indians have died in the accident.
The other Indians killed in the fire were Ranjit, Shibu Varghese, Thomas Joseph, Praveen Madhav, Lukose Vadakkot Unnunni, Bhunath Richard Roy Anand, Kelu Ponmaleri, Stephen Abraham Sabu, Anil Giri, Mohammed Sharif, Saju Varghese, Dwarikesh Patnaik, P V Muralidharan, Vishwas Krishnan, Arun Babu, Sajan George, Raymond, Jesus Lopez, Akash Sasidharan Nair and Denny Baby Karunakaran.
The building that caught fire housed over 195 workers from the nearby commercial area, mostly from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and North India. The building belongs to the NBTC Group owned by Malayali businessman KG Abraham. The building also housed employees of NBTC’s supermarket.
Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister Fahad Youssef Al-Sabah visited the spot and ordered a police investigation into the matter. He directed the police to detain the owner of the building, its watchman and the employer of the workers living there until the criminal investigation into the fire is completed.
He also directed Kuwait Municipality and the Public Authority for Manpower to take immediate action to look into similar violations where large numbers of workers are crowded in residential buildings.
