NEW DELHI, June 12 — Dozens of Indian workers were killed and many more injured in a residential building fire in Kuwait today.
The blaze broke out early in the morning in the building housing about 200 mostly Indian workers in the Mangaf area, south of Kuwait City, according to Kuwaiti media reports.
“Deeply shocked by the news of the fire incident in Kuwait city. There are reportedly over 40 deaths and over 50 have been hospitalised.
“Our ambassador has gone to the camp. We are awaiting further information,” India’s Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, said.
Meanwhile, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said Kirti Vardhan Singh, a junior foreign minister, is “urgently travelling to Kuwait to oversee assistance to those injured in the fire tragedy and to coordinate with local authorities for early repatriation of mortal remains of those who have died in this unfortunate incident”.
At least 43 injured were treated at different hospitals, according to one Kuwaiti report.
Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Fahd Al Yousef and other officials visited the fire site.
The authorities are investigating the cause of the fire.
About two-thirds of Kuwait’s 4.8 million population is made up of foreign residents and the number of Indians is about one million. — Bernama
