11 Keralites among Indian victims of Kuwait fire incident: Report

As many as 11 people from Kerala are among at least 40 Indians killed in the fire incident that took place in Kuwait on Wednesday morning, Onmanorama, a Kerala-based website has reported.

The Indian nationals, among 49 victims of the tragedy, also include people from states such as Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, it added.

The website identified some of the Indian victims as Umarudheen Shameer, Ranjith, Shibu Varghese, Thomas Joseph, Praveen Madhav, Lukose Vadakkott Unnoonni, Bhoonath Richard Roy Anand, Kelu Ponmaleri, Stephen Abraham Sahu, Anil Giri, Muhammad Shareef, Saju Varghese, Dwarikesh Patnaik, PV Muraleedharan, Viswas Krishnan, Arun Babu, Sajan George, Raymond, Jesus Lopez, Akash Sasidharan Nair, and Danny Baby Karunakaran.

The report further stated that 35 people are under intensive care, of whom 11 are on ventilator support.

The incident

The blaze broke out on a lower floor of the residential apartment in the Mangaf area in Kuwait’s southern Ahmadi Governate, and spread rapidly through the building. The building is believed to be rented by the NBTC Group, owned by KG Abraham, a Malayali businessman.

The Indian envoy, Adarsh Swaika, visited the site and the Indian embassy in Kuwait has released an emergency helpline number: +965 65505246.

“All concerned are requested to connect over this helpline for updates. We remain committed to render all possible assistance,” the embassy posted on X (formerly Twitter).

The Union government is sending Kirti Vardhan Singh, the newly sworn-in Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, to Kuwait to oversee the relief operations and coordinate with local authorities for an early repatriation of the mortal remains of those who have died in the incident.