49 people dead in a building fire in Kuwait; S. Jaishankar talks with his counterpart

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan confirmed in a letter to India's External Affairs Ministry that Indians had perished in the building fire in Kuwait.

Ankush Pandey Ankush Pandey
Jun 13, 2024 - 04:52 Updated: Jun 20, 2024 - 18:29
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49 people dead in a building fire in Kuwait; S. Jaishankar talks with his counterpart

INTRO

  • 49 people are dead in a massive fire in a Kuwaiti building. 
  • foreign workers; the victims were primarily Indian.
  • Most fatalities brought on by sleeping with smoke inhaled

49 people have died and over 50 have been injured in the big fire that destroyed a six-story building in Kuwait early on Wednesday. Over 40 of the victims were Indians, according to the officials. The foreign workers were housed in the building that caught fire.

Speaking with his counterpart Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya in Kuwait, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was informed of the measures carried out by the country's authorities following the fire. According to authorities, a large number of households were evacuated and the majority of deaths were caused by smoke inhalation while inhabitants were asleep

THE LATEST KUWAIT BUILDING FIRE

At least 49 people were dead early on Wednesday in Kuwait after a block housing foreign workers caught fire. The majority of the victims were Indian nationals between the ages of 20 and 50. Over fifty additional people were injured in the fire, according to the Indian External Affairs Ministry. The Associated Press said that local officials seemed to believe that code infractions were the cause of the fire.

In a conversation with his Kuwaiti counterpart Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya on Wednesday night, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar urged him to make sure that the lifeless remains of those who perished in a terrible fire in southern Kuwait's Mangaf district are returned to their families as soon as possible.

In a meeting with S Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, Principal Secretary to PM PK Mishra, and others, Prime Minister Narendra Modi—who called the occurrence "saddening"—reviewed the circumstances. The Prime Minister ordered that the government provide all aid feasible after the meeting and announced ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the Indian nationals who had died.

Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh announced today that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed him to go immediately to Kuwait. His main goals there are to supervise the relief given to Indians hurt in the fire and to make sure the bodies of the deceased are returned to their families as soon as possible.

Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait, gave the go-ahead for authorities to look into the incident on Wednesday and promised to hold those liable for the catastrophe. The Emir issued a condolence letter to the relatives of the victims of the Mangaf fire catastrophe, expressing his profound sadness and sympathy to them, as well as his best wishes for the injured person's quick recovery.

Adarsh Swaika, the Indian ambassador, paid visits to the fire scene and subsequently to several hospitals, including Al-Adan Hospital, which admitted more than thirty Indian labourers. He reassured a number of patients that the Embassy would provide them with full support. According to hospital officials, almost all are stable, the mission stated.

It started before six in the morning (local time). The NBTC group rents the building. During the rescue effort, five firefighters were injured, according to sources who spoke to news agency PTI.

According to officials speaking to PTI, the fire originated in the kitchen of the building located in the Mangaf district of Kuwait's southern Ahmadi Governorate. It was stated that 195 employees of the same company resided in the building. In addition to Indians, Pakistani, Filipino, Egyptian, and Nepalese nationals also perished in the fire.

After the fire incident, the Indian Embassy in Kuwait issued an emergency hotline.

The sealing of the building's ground tunnels was mentioned by witnesses who were cited by the local media as one of the reasons why many victims' suffocation was so severe. According to them, this impediment made it more difficult for occupants to leave the building quickly and restricted their freedom of movement. One witness described a sad event in which a resident worker fell from the fifth floor and hit the edge of the balcony.