KOCHI, India — Grieving families gathered at an Indian airport terminal on Friday to receive the bodies of migrant workers killed in a catastrophic building fire in Kuwait. The fire, which broke out at dawn on Wednesday, rapidly consumed a housing block populated by foreign laborers who support Kuwait’s oil-driven economy.
The inferno resulted in the deaths of 50 people, with 45 of them being Indian nationals. Dozens more were hospitalized, leaving their families in India desperately seeking information about their loved ones’ fate.
“We held on to hope till the last minute that maybe he got out, maybe he’s in the hospital,” said Anu Aby, a neighbor of 31-year-old victim Cibin Abraham. Abraham, who had been planning to return to Kerala state in August for his child’s first birthday, was on the phone with his wife just an hour before the fire started, Aby added.
At Kochi airport in southern India, relatives of the victims sat in a waiting area, wiping away tears as an Indian Air Force plane carrying the remains of their loved ones landed.
Kuwait’s population of over four million is predominantly composed of foreigners, many from South and Southeast Asia, who work in construction and service sectors. These workers often live in overcrowded housing blocks, such as the one that caught fire on Wednesday. The blaze trapped nearly 200 residents, many of whom suffocated from smoke inhalation.
The charred bodies were so severely damaged that DNA testing was required for identification before repatriation. Authorities in Kuwait have detained one Kuwaiti and two foreign residents on suspicion of manslaughter due to negligence of safety procedures and fire regulations.
On Wednesday, Interior Minister Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef pledged to tackle “labor overcrowding and neglect” and warned of closing any buildings that violate safety rules. The fire is one of the deadliest in Kuwait, which is rich in oil reserves and borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Among the victims were three Filipinos. The Philippines’ migrant workers secretary, Hans Leo J. Cacdac, confirmed that Manila authorities were in contact with the victims’ families.
The tragedy brings to mind another devastating fire in Kuwait in 2009, where 57 people died after a Kuwaiti woman set fire to a tent at a wedding party in an act of revenge. This incident underscores the ongoing challenges and dangers faced by foreign laborers in Kuwait.