In a heart-rending incident, at least 41 people, including many Indians, are believed to have succumbed to the fire that erupted in a building in Kuwait’s Mangaf area on Wednesday morning. This tragedy, however, has quite a terrible toll as S Jaishankar, the external affairs minister, conveyed on X (Twitter), “Deeply shocked by the news of the fire incident in Kuwait city – over 40 dead and over 50 have been hospitalized The ambassador has visited the camp, waiting for more updates.”
Reports indicate that the fire originated around 4:30 am local time in the kitchen on the lower floor before it quickly continued into the residential apartment area, locking in tenants. Yet, the authorities were informed only at 6 a.m.
As stated by Kuwait Times, the people directly affected were about 160, all the occupants of the building being workers in the same company. On the other hand, Onmanorama, a Kerala-based website, said that out of the 10 Indian fatalities, five of them were from Kerala.
Originally built as a factory to house workers from three different Indian states – Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and the northern parts of India – the building belongs to NBTC Group, owned by KG Abraham, a Malayali businessman. This fire was put out early morning, but sadly, several people are thoT to be still unbeknownst within the building.
The Interior Minister of Kuwait has visited the site and blamed the company and building owners for this incident by saying they “daylight it is the height of greed which characterizes the company and the building owners.”
This sad event has led to some demands for better safety and a crackdown on the non-observance of rules and regs concerning the houses of servicemen in Kuwait.
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