Kochi: An aircraft carrying the mortal remains of the 45 Indians killed ina devastating fire in a building in Kuwait’s Mangaf is expected to reachthe Cochin International Airport by 10.30 am on Friday. The C-130Jtransport aircraft of the Indian Air Force which started from Kuwait at3.30am will land in Kerala first as most of the victims belong to theState. The aircraft is then expected to reach Delhi as some of the Indianskilled are from a few north Indian states. Union Minister of StateExternal Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh, who coordinated with Kuwaitiauthorities ensuring swift repatriation, is onboard the aircraft.
Kuwaiti authorities said they identified bodies of 45 Indians and threeFilipino nationals killed in the fire. At least 49 migrant workers,including 24 Malayalis, were killed and 50 others injured in the blaze.Kuwaiti authorities have already conducted DNA tests on the bodies aspart of the identification process. According to a press release issued bythe Indian embassy, the deceased are from Kerala (23),Andhra Pradesh (3), UP (3). Odisha (2), Bihar, Punjab, Karnataka,Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Haryana (1 each). Denny Babyfrom Kollam’s Karunagappally was not included in the list of Keralites.His funeral will take place in Mumbai.Nine Keralites are continuing in Kuwait in critical state, Department ofNon-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) said.
Kerala CM to receive mortal remainsThe mortal remains would be handed over to concerned StateGovernment representatives in Kochi and Delhi. Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan and ministers will receive the remains. The Centre had deniedpolitical clearance to Kerala Health Minister Veena George to visitKuwait. Union Minister Suresh Gopi will also be present at the airport.Ambulances have been arranged to take the bodies of the victims totheir respective homes. The Kerala Lok Sabha event which was to takeplace on June 14 morning has been shifted to 3pm today.A special IAF aircraft carrying mortal remains of 45 Indian victims in the fire incident in Kuwait.
Kuwaiti Fire Force said the deadly fire was caused by an “electricalcircuit”. In a press statement, it said the conclusion was arrived at afterexamination of the scene of the incident, Kuwaiti news agency KUNAreported.
Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousuf Al-Sabah, serving as the First Deputy PrimeMinister, Minister of Interior, and Minister of Defence, said thatauthorities have identified 48 bodies. Minister of State for ExternalAffairs Kirti Vardhan Singh, who reached Kuwait this morning, separately met the Gulf nation’s foreign minister Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya,Al-Sabah and Health Minister Ahmad Abdelwahab Ahmad Al-Awadi.
The Indian embassy in Kuwait said Foreign Minister Al-Yahya assured offull support including for medical care, early repatriation of mortalremains and investigation into the incident.
“FM Yahya conveyed his condolences on the tragic incident. He assuredfull support including for medical care, early repatriation of mortalremains and investigation of the incident,” the mission said on X.
“MoS conveyed his appreciation for the cooperation being extended byall concerned authorities of Kuwait,” it said. Singh also visited MubarakAl Kabeer hospital and Jaber hospital where several injured Indians areadmitted. In the meeting with Singh, the Kuwaiti health minister briefedhim on steps taken to ensure speedy recovery of Indians under his”personal supervision”, according to the Indian embassy.
Last night, Prime Minister Modi reviewed the situation at a meetingwith External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, ForeignSecretary Vinay Kwatra and Principal Secretary to PM PK Mishra amongothers.
Following the meeting, the prime minister announced ex-gratia relief ofRs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased Indian nationals from the PMRelief Fund and directed that the government should extend all possibleassistance. The External Affairs Minister spoke to his Kuwaiticounterpart Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya on phone and urged him for the earlyrepatriation of the mortal remains of those killed.
The fire in Al-Mangaf building was reported to authorities in Al-Ahmadigovernorate at 4.30 am on Wednesday and most of the deaths were dueto smoke inhalation, Kuwaiti media reported, adding the fire started in akitchen. Construction firm NBTC group rented the building for the stayof more than 195 workers, most of them Indians from Kerala, TamilNadu and northern states, the Kuwaiti media said. Interior Minister Al-Sabah ordered an investigation into the fire incident and issueddirections to apprehend the owner and janitor of Al-Mangaf building.
Kuwait fire victims (Kerala)1. Arun Babu from Thiruvananthapuram2. Nitin Koothur from Kannur3. Thomas Oommen from Tiruvalla4. Mathew Thomas from Alappuzha5. Akash S Nair (23) from Pandalam, Pathanamthitta6. KR Ranjith (34) from Chengala in Kasaragod7. Saju Varghese (56) from Konni, Pathanamthitta8. Kelu Ponmaleri (55) from Kasaragod9. Stefin Abraham Sabu (29) from Kottayam’s Pampady10. MP Bahulayan from Malappuram11. Kuppante Purakkal Nooh from Kootayi, Tirur, Malappuram12. Lukose aka Sabu (48) from Kollam’s Velichikala13. Sajan George from Punalur, Kollam.14. P V Muraleedharan from Vazhamuttom, Pathanamthitta15. Viswas Krishnan from Dharmadom, Kannur16. Umarudheen Shameer (33) from Kollam’s Pooyappally17. Srihari Pradeep from Changanassery, Kottayam18. Binoy Thomas from Chavakkad in Thrissur19. Sreejesh Thankappan Nair20. Sumesh Pillai Sundaran21. Aneesh Kumar Unnankandi22. Sibin Thevaroth Abraham (31) from Keezhvaipur, Pathanamthitta23. Shibu Verghese
Kuwait fire victims (Other States)1. Veerachami Mariappan – Tamil Nadu2. Chinnadurai Krishnamurthy – Tamil Nadu3. Sivashankar Govind – Tamil Nadu4. Raju Abameesan – Tamil Nadu5. Karuppanna Ramu – Tamil Nadu6. Bunaf Richard Roy Ananda Manoharan – Tamil Nadu 7. Muhammad Sharif – Tamil Nadu8. Satyanarayana Molletti – Andhra9. Eshwarudu Meesala – Andhra10. Lokanatham Tamada – Andhra11. Sheo Shankar Singh – Bihar12. Mohammed Jahore – Odisha13. Santosh Kumar Gowda – Odisha14. Vijayakumar Prasanna – Karnataka15. Denny Baby Karunakaran – Maharashtra16. Dwarikesh Patta Naik – Bengal17. Praveen Madhav Singh – Uttar Pradesh18. Jairam Gupta – Uttar Pradesh19. Angad Gupta – Uttar Pradesh20. MD Ali Hussain – Jharkhand21. Anil Giri – Haryana22. Himat Rai – Punjab
