The aircraft of the Indian Air Force is expected to land in Kochi at 10:30 am today, carrying the bodies of 45 Indian migrant workers who lost their lives in a building fire in Kuwait. The same aircraft will then arrive in Delhi at 4 pm. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh who coordinated with Kuwaiti authorities regarding the repatriation is also onboard the aircraft.
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The Building Fire in Kuwait
Around 42 Indians, a significant portion of whom were from Kerala were killed and several others were injured in a massive fire that broke out early morning in a building housing around 195 migrant workers in Southern Kuwait’s Mangaf area. This event occurred on 12th June. Around 49 people were killed out of which 42 were Indians, the remaining ones are claimed to be Pakistani, Nepali, Filipino and Egyptian nationals, according to media reports.
The Ministry of External Affairs released a statement on Wednesday night stating ‘In an unfortunate and tragic fire incident earlier today in a Labour housing facility in Mangaf area of Kuwait, around 40 Indians are understood to have died and over 50 injured.’ This incident is claimed to be one of the worst building fires in Kuwait’s history and it immediately raised questions over landlords and company owners who violate laws to house a large number of migrant workers under unsafe and unhygienic conditions to extract extra profit.
Preliminary investigations showed that the fire was caused by the gas cylinders on the ground floor of the building. Inflammable materials like paper, cardboard, plastic etc were used as partitions to separate cramped spaces for workers in the room. Moreover, the locked doors to the rooftop did not allow the workers to escape. Further investigation over the incident is still underway. The owner of the building has been detained by Kuwaiti officials.
Response from the Government of India
Prime Minister Modi chaired a meeting of the Ministry of External Affairs and other officials about the incident on Wednesday night. He expressed his grief over the incident, stating that his thoughts were with the families and the kin of the victims. Following the incident, Minister Kirti Vardhan Singh said that Kuwaiti Authorities have assured India of their “full support, including for medical care, early repatriation of mortal remains, and investigation of the incident’ after his meeting with the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister. Mr Singh also met Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister and other Kuwaiti senior officials. He also visited the hospitals where the injured victims were being treated.
Several ambulances have lined up at the Cochin International Airport to receive the mortal remains of the deceased. Although most of the ambulances are from Kerala, a few from Tamil Nadu have also been arranged. End to end pilot teams have also been arranged to transport the bodies to their respective homes. Coordination with other police departments outside the state for inter-state transport is also in place.
