Forty Indians among 50 dead as fire ravages residential area

At least 40 Indians are among 50 people killed in a fire at a residential building in the Kuwaiti town of Mangaf, India's foreign ministry said.

The fire broke out on Wednesday in a building where dozens of workers lived.

Video shared on social media showed flames engulfing the lower part of the building and thick black smoke billowing from the upper floors.

Most of the victims come from the southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. About fifty Indians were also injured.

Three Filipinos were also killed, Philippine officials cited by AFP said. Filipino and Nepalese workers are also among the injured.

Two-thirds of Kuwait's population are foreign workers and the country is heavily dependent on migrant labor, particularly in the construction and cleaning sectors.

Human rights groups have regularly raised concerns about their living conditions.

According to local media, the building housed 196 workers and some suggest it may be overcrowded.

A senior police officer told national television there were a “large number” of people in the building at the time of the fire.

“Dozens of people were rescued, but unfortunately there were many deaths due to smoke inhalation from the fire,” he said, adding that warnings were often issued about overcrowding in this type of accommodation.

Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Fahad Yusuf al-Sabah accused the owners of greed and said violations of building standards led to the tragedy.

“Unfortunately, it was the greed of the owners that led to this,” Sheikh al-Sabah, who is also acting interior minister, told the Reuters news agency.

“They are violating the regulations and this is the result of those violations,” he said.

The initial death toll was 49, but Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya said on Thursday that one person had died overnight, AFP reported.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent his condolences to the victims and their families.

“The fire that hit Kuwait City is saddening,” he said on X.

“My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that those injured recover as soon as possible.”

He said the Indian embassy was monitoring the situation and working with authorities on the ground.

Kirti Vardhan Singh, a junior government minister who left for Kuwait on Thursday morning, said DNA tests were underway to identify the victims.

“An air force plane is ready. As soon as the bodies are identified, the next of kin will be informed and our air force plane will bring back the bodies,” he told the ANI news agency.

Twenty-four victims are from the state of Kerala and five from neighboring Tamil Nadu.

An eyewitness, Manikandan from Tamil Nadu, told BBC Tamil that many workers worked at night.

“Some of those who returned to this apartment early in the morning were preparing food after returning from work,” he said.

“Once the fire broke out, it spread quickly. The people living in the building were unable to control the fire.”

Back in India, the families of the identified victims are in shock.

Umaruddeen Shameer, a native of Kerala's Kollam district, worked as a driver for an oil company in Kuwait.

His family is stunned after learning of his death, said a neighbor who picked up the phone at his home.

“He got married just nine months ago when he came to visit us here,” the neighbor told BBC Hindi without revealing his identity. “His parents are in no condition to speak to anyone.”

Another victim, Stephin Sabu, 29, was due to return home to Kerala's Kottayam district next month, a family acquaintance told BBC Hindi.

“His father is not well and his mother is not able to speak,” Babu Mathew, a member of the local church, told BBC Hindi, adding that his family was waiting for Sabu to arrive for the hanging of rack of the house he had built. .

Others, who were desperately waiting for news from their loved ones, were devastated.

Earlier on Thursday, Ashrafunnisa from Villupuram in Tamil Nadu had expressed concerns over not being able to contact her husband Mohammed Sharief. He had worked as a foreman in Kuwait for a decade and lived in the building that was destroyed.

“I last spoke to him on Tuesday afternoon. Since then, I have not been able to contact him,” she said.

Hours after speaking to the BBC, she received the news of his death.

Additional reporting from BBC Tamil