India brings back bodies of 45 migrant workers killed in Kuwait fire: ‘A grave tragedy’

India has brought back the bodies of 45 workers who were killed in a fire that tore through their residential building in Kuwait.

An Indian Air Force aircraft carrying them landed in southern India’s Kerala on Friday, two days after the fire broke out.

The fire engulfed the lower floors of a residential building in Mangaf city where almost 200 migrant workers, the majority from India and some from the Philippines and Pakistan, lived.

Kuwaiti authorities said 50 people were killed in the blaze and 45 of them were confirmed as Indian workers. Three were identified as Filipinos while two are yet to be identified.

A preliminary investigation found that highly inflammable material was used to erect partitions between the cramped apartments of the building and around two dozen gas cylinders were left on the ground floor of the building.

“A special IAF aircraft carrying the mortal remains of 45 Indian victims in the fire incident in Kuwait has taken off for Kochi,” the Indian embassy in Kuwait said as the plane took off.

A video showed air force personnel taking the caskets one by one from the plane at the Kochi airport. Another showed a row of caskets arranged outside the airport’s import cargo terminal.

The caskets carried pictures of the deceased workers.

Of the deceased workers, 23 were from Kerala, seven from Tamil Nadu, three each from Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, two from Odisha, and one each from Bihar, Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Haryana.

Ambulances with police escort will take the coffins of the victims from Kerala to their homes.

The plane will fly to Delhi with the mortal remains of the victims from northern India.

Kerala’s chief minister said it was “a grave tragedy that hit our country”.

“About 50 people have been killed in the incident,” Pinarayi Vijayan added. “It is the most grim tragedy in the lives of non-resident Indians,” he said, offering condolences at the airport.

The state’s opposition leader said: “Kerala is grieving.”

“Our brothers who lost their lives in the fire accident at #Kuwait were the pillars of strength for families and friends. We are waiting at Kochi airport to receive the mortal remains,” VD Satheesan said.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi called an urgent meeting on Wednesday and directed minister Kirti Vardhan Singh to immediately travel to Kuwait.

Mr Singh helped with the repatriation of the bodies. “We also visited five hospitals where there were around 32 to 35 patients of Indian origin who were being treated there. We spoke to them individually,” Mr Singh told news agency ANI.

India’s federal and state governments have announced compensation to the families of the deceased workers.

According to The Arab Times, the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit in the security guard’s room on the ground floor.

Kuwaiti police have detained the owner of the building and some expatriates on charges of manslaughter and negligence, according to the newspaper.

Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Al Sabah, Kuwait’s deputy prime minister, has promised a wider investigation into allegedly rampant building code violation by business owners.

The tragedy has put a spotlight on the harsh living and working conditions of Indian workers in Gulf countries and led to allegations against the Narendra Modi government of neglecting their health and safety.

Indian workers in the Gulf countries have long complained of hazardous, sometimes deadly, working conditions, long hours, unpaid wages, and cramped and unsanitary housing, said Human Rights Watch.

Indian nationals make up 21 per cent of Kuwait’s 4.2 million population and nearly 30 per cent of its workforce.