Kuwait fire started in building's kitchen at 4 am: How tragedy unfolded

Kuwait fire accident reason: The labour housing facility located in the Mangaf area of Kuwait, where the fire occurred killing at least 40 Indians, is said to be in violation of safety regulations

Kuwait fire accident reason: The massive fire in a building in Kuwait on Wednesday, in which 49 foreign workers including at least 45 Indians were killed, began in the pre-dawn hours at about 4 am. All the 195 men, believed to be migrant workers, were sleeping at the moment when the fire began in the kitchen of the seven storey building.

As many as 50 people were injured in the incident. At least 24 of the deceased belonged to Kerala and some were from Tamil Nadu. Other victims were Pakistani, Filipino, Egyptian and Nepali nationals.

The labour housing facility located in the Mangaf area of Kuwait, is said to be in violation of safety regulations. Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Fahad Yusuf al-Sabah accused “greedy” property owners of violations that resulted in the incident.

Kuwait building fire accident cause

Earlier, there were reports of suspected gas leak as the reason behind the fire accident, however, local media of Kuwait cited officials on Friday to report that electrical short circuit was idenitifed as the cause of fire.

Union Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh left for Kuwait earlier today, noting that the situation will be clearer once the team reaches there. “The situation is that the victims are mostly burn victims and some of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition. A DNA test is underway to identify the victims,” he was reported as saying to news agency ANI.

Kuwait fire accident victims suffocated from smoke

Shocking details have emerged from the initial investigation carried out by the Kuwaiti officials that revealed that some sort of inflammable material was used as partitions between the rooms and the apartment of the building in question.

This caused huge clouds of smoke billowing out of the building and killed many victims from suffocation. The probe also revealed that the victims could not run to the rooftop as it was locked, Kuwait Fire Department Col Sayed Al-Mousawi said.

An Indian Air Force aircraft is on standby to bring back the bodies of the deceased once the identification process takes place, he said.

On Tuesday, the external affairs ministry said that the Indian Embassy in Kuwait is working with the authorities to ascertain the details of the company involved in the incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held a high-level meeting with top officials on Wednesday evening to discuss the incident.