Dubai (AP):
At least 40 Indian nationals were killed and more than 50 injured when a fire broke out in a building housing foreign workers in Kuwait early Wednesday, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. Local authorities said the blaze appeared to be linked to a violation of regulations.
Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousaf Al-Sabah inspected the scene, confirmed the casualty toll and ordered the arrest of the building's owner, local media reported.
“We're going to address the issue of oversupply of labor,” he said. “I'm going to look into what violations have been committed here and negotiate with the landowners.”
Colonel Saeed Hassan Al Musawi, head of the fire and accident investigation department, said dozens of people were killed or injured and that the final death toll could be much higher.
“Approximately 40 Indian nationals are believed to have been killed and more than 50 injured,” India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement late on Wednesday.
The injured are being treated in five government hospitals in Kuwait and are receiving “appropriate medical care and attention,” the statement said. India's Foreign Secretary Kirti Vardhan Singh will travel to Kuwait to facilitate the early repatriation of the bodies and provide medical assistance to the injured.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the victims and said the Indian Embassy was “closely monitoring the situation and working with local authorities to provide assistance to those affected.”
“Sadly witnessed the fire incident in Kuwait city. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. Praying for a speedy recovery to those injured,” PM Modi wrote on Twitter.
Kuwait, like other Persian Gulf states, has a large community of migrant workers that far outnumbers the local population. The country of about 4.2 million people is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of New Jersey, but has the sixth-largest oil reserves in the world.
