Shock and grief envelop loved ones of Kuwait fire victims | Latest news India

When he was 23, Akash Sasidharan Nair had traveled to Kuwait from Pandalam in Kerala, taking his family’s hopes with him. His father had died when he was 5, and his mother had supported him and his older sister on the small income she earned as a staff member at a local medical store. They were expecting him at home in August, as talk of marriage gathered pace. But on Wednesday morning, they received news that turned their world upside down: Nair was one of the Indians who died in a devastating fire in southern Kuwait.

At least 42 Indian nationals were killed and dozens injured in a devastating fire that broke out in a building in southern Kuwait on Wednesday morning. The fire in the Al-Mangaf building, a workers’ residence, was reported to authorities in Al-Ahmadi governorate at 4:30 a.m. and most of the deaths were due to smoke inhalation as residents were sleeping, Kuwaiti media reported. The NBTC Group, an engineering and construction company owned by KG Abraham, a Malaysian businessman, rented the building to house more than 195 workers, mostly Indians.

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Soumya Santhosh, the local municipal councilor who once tutored Akash, said: “According to the information we received from Kuwait, Akash and his friend jumped out of the building together through a window near the cage. ‘stairs. But while his friend survived, Akash died. His body has been identified and we are making efforts to bring him home.

Sharafudheen Kanneth, president of the Kuwaiti chapter of the Kerala Muslim Cultural Center (KMCC), who was at the scene of the fire on Wednesday, said at least 11 of the victims were from Kerala. “So far, 49 people have died, including 11 from the state of Kerala. The death toll is likely to rise since at least 196 people, most of them workers employed at the NBTC, resided in the building. We are committed to removing the bodies from each floor following formalities and protocols. We are also checking hospitals and morgues to verify the identity of the deceased and injured people so that we can inform their families back home,” Kanneth said.

Another of the identified victims is Ranjith, 32, of Bevinje village in Chengala panchayat of Kasargod.

P Sivaprasad, a Chengala panchayat member, told HT, “We have information that Ranjith unfortunately died in the fire. He had worked in Kuwait for ten years and returned home a year ago when his family moved into a new house. The family depends on its income.

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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar seeking the Centre’s intervention in the tragedy. “I request you to issue necessary instructions to the Indian Embassy to coordinate relief and rescue operations by getting in touch with the Government of Kuwait,” Vijayan said in his letter to Jaishankar.

In a separate statement, Vijayan said, “The news of the death of more than 40 people and many injured in the Mangaf block fire in Kuwait is extremely saddened. According to reports, people from Kerala are among the dead. I join the families of the deceased in this tragic hour.

Opposition Leader VD Satheesan also expressed condolences over the deaths and said, “I request all Malayali organizations in Kuwait to ensure that aid, especially access to medical care, reaches all those who are injured,” he said.