Relatives of Indian nationals killed in a fire in Kuwait say they are experiencing shock and disbelief as they await the bodies of their loved ones.
Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Meshal on Thursday ordered financial compensation for the families of those who died when a fire tore through a six-storey residential building in Mangaf on Wednesday.
Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Al Sabah, Kuwait's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, announced the payments, the Kuna news agency reported.
One of the victims was Umarudheen Shameer, who moved to Kuwait four years ago to work as a driver and send money to his family in India’s southern state of Kerala.
He was the sole breadwinner for his wife and elderly parents, who live in Kollam.
But he died when the building where he lived with nearly 200 other foreign workers went up in flames.
At least 50 people, 43 of them Indians, were killed in the fire that is believed to have started in a kitchen on the ground floor, trapping residents on floors above.
Mr Shameer, 33, was one of the over two dozen migrant workers from Kerala who were killed in the fire.
It is suspected that he jumped off the building to escape the blaze.
“We received a call from his friends about the accident. At first, we thought these were false reports. But some people have seen his pictures. We are still in disbelief. We can’t believe he is dead,” Alif Mohammed, Mr Shameer’s cousin, told The National.
Another cousin, Shabeer, said that his mother, Sheebna, and wife, Shurumi, have not been told about his death.
“We do not know what to tell them,” Shabeer, who goes by a single name, said.
“We used to talk very often. I met him when he was home a few months back. This is shocking and painful. We do not know what to say,” he said.
“We are waiting for his body. Then only we can believe that he is no more and inform his mother and wife,” Mr Mohammed said.
The Kuwaiti Public Prosecution service said it had ordered a Kuwaiti national and a foreign national to be remanded on charges of “erroneous killing” in the incident.
“The Kuwaiti and the expatriate will be held in custody for several charges, namely committing 'killing and injury by error due to negligence of security and safety precautions against fires', the Kuwaiti Public Prosecution said on X.
Another victim was Lukos, who used a single name, an Indian from Adichanalloor in Kerala, who had been working in Kuwait for the past 18 years.
His family initially heard that he was injured but by Wednesday evening, his neighbours confirmed his death in the blaze.
“The family was informed by one of his neighbours in Kuwait. Later they called to inform them that Lukos had died. They got a confirmation from the hospital,” Aleyamma Johnson, a village council member, told The National.
“His wife and two daughters are waiting for his body. His father is 93 years old and his mother is 90. They are inconsolable,” Ms Johnson said.
Srihari Pradeep, a 27-year-old mechanical engineer, is also among the dead.
He had returned to Kuwait last week from India, said Muhammed Aslam, a former vice president of the Kuwait Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, a community group assisting the families.
“There are many people still in hospital with serious injuries. They had fractures and burn injuries as they fell when jumping from the building that was on fire,” Mr Aslam said.
Other victims came from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu and the northern Uttar Pradesh state.
Sheikh Fahad said the bodies of the victims would be repatriated to India on board Kuwaiti military planes.
The others casualties were Pakistani, Filipino, Egyptian and Nepalese.
Three Filipinos were killed in the fire, the Philippines Migrant Worker Secretary said on Thursday. Two others remain in a critical condition, it added.
Media reports said most of the deaths were due to smoke inhalation. India’s junior foreign minister Kirti Singh, who arrived in Kuwait in the aftermath of the tragedy, said several Indian nationals were burnt beyond recognition.
Mr Singh said DNA tests would be conducted to establish their identities.
“As soon as the bodies are identified, the kin will be informed and our air force plane will bring the bodies back … The latest figures that we had last night, the casualty figures are around 48 to 49. Out of this, 42 or 43 are believed to be Indians,” Mr Singh told reporters.
The minister and his team will co-ordinate with Kuwaiti authorities to repatriate victims' bodies, officials said.
Indians are the largest expatriate community in Kuwait, with a diaspora of about a million people constituting 21 per cent of the Gulf nation's population and 30 per cent of its workforce, according to the Indian government.
Indians began migrating to Kuwait in the 1970s following a boom in the nation’s economy, mostly driven by oil exports, and have played a pivotal role in the development of the country since.
About half a million Indians are employed in the private sector as engineers, doctors and IT experts, while more than 300,000 are involved in blue-collar jobs as drivers, gardeners, cooks and housemaids, according to the Indian embassy in Kuwait.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he spoke to his Kuwaiti counterpart Abdullah Ali Al Yahya about the tragedy.
“Apprised of the efforts made by Kuwaiti authorities in that regard. Was assured that the incident would be fully investigated, and that responsibility will be fixed,” Mr Jaishankar wrote on social media.
A senior Kuwaiti journalist told a local Indian television network that an intense heatwave, with temperatures exceeding 50ºC, is believed to have contributed to the tragedy.
The ages of the victims – who included a driver, a delivery agent, carpenters and engineers – ranged from 23 to 56 years.
