By Micheal Chukwuebuka, Reporting
NO fewer than 40 Indian nationals were killed and 50 others were injured after a fire swept through a building that housed the foreign workers in Kuwait in the early hours of Wednesday.
Local officials said the blaze appeared to be linked to code violations.
Stonix News reports that Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousuf Al-Sabah confirmed the toll and ordered the arrest of the building’s owner during a visit to the site.
“We will address the issue of labor overcrowding.
“I’m now going to see what violations were committed here and I will deal with the owner of the property.” he said.
Col. Sayed Hassan al-Mousawi, head of the firefighters’ Accident Investigation Department, said there were dozens of casualties and that the final death toll might be higher.
Late Wednesday, India’s external affairs ministry said in a statement that “around 40 Indians are understood to have died and over 50 injured.”
The injured are being treated in five government hospitals in Kuwait and receiving “proper medical care and attention,” the statement added.
It said that India’s junior external affairs minister, Kirti Vardhan Singh, will be traveling to Kuwait to work toward early repatriation of mortal remains and provide medical assistance to those injured.
According to NBC News, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has offered condolences to the victims.
He said the Indian Embassy was closely monitoring the situation and working with the authorities there to assist the affected.
“The fire mishap in Kuwait City is saddening.
“My thoughts are with all those who have lost their near and dear ones.
“I pray that the injured recover at the earliest,” Modi wrote on X.
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