Indian dies of burn injuries in Bahrain

An Indian national died and two others sustained burn injuries while repairing a vehicle at a workshop in Bahrain.

Jijo Varghese Cherian and his colleagues Aby Mathew and Thomas Parackal George were in a maintenance pit at a workshop in Nuwaidrat in Sitrah region of the Gulf nation when the blaze broke out Monday. Cherian got trapped inside the pit, the Gulf Daily News reported Tuesday.

Cherian, 21, suffered severe burns and succumbed to his injuries at Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama.

Aby Mathew and Thomas Parackal George, who were also inside the pit when the fire broke out, managed to escape and tried to pull out Cherian but were beaten back by the flames and smoke.

According to the report, an investigation is under way to find out the cause of the fire.

All three used to work for Al Namal Contracting and Trading Company.

"The workers were underneath the vehicle when the incident took place at around 8am," a colleague of the victims was quoted as saying.

"The workers were doing mechanical work on the vehicle which caused the fire," he added.

According to the report, Bahrain's labour ministry has also launched an investigation and allegedly uncovered violation of safety norms during a visit to the workshop.

--Indo-Asian New Service

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