Remains Of Indians Killed In Kuwait Fire Brought Back To Delhi

A special Indian Air Force aircraft, C-130J, carrying the mortal remains of 45 Indian victims from the fire incident in Kuwait's Mangaf, has landed at Palam airbase in Delhi. Kuwaiti authorities confirmed the identification of the bodies of 45 Indians and three Filipino nationals who were killed in the devastating fire at a building housing foreign workers in southern Kuwait. The blaze claimed the lives of at least 49 migrant workers and injured 50 others.

An official from the Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs (NORKA) department unofficially reported that, according to information from its help desk in Kuwait, 24 Malayalees were among the deceased, with 22 identified. Additionally, Tamil Nadu's Minister for Minorities Welfare and Non-Resident Tamils Welfare, Gingee KS Masthan, informed reporters that five individuals from Tamil Nadu were killed, based on information from Tamil associations abroad.

In response to the tragedy, the IAF's C-130J transport aircraft was scheduled to bring back the bodies, first landing in Kochi as most of the deceased Indians were from Kerala. It then proceeded to Delhi to return the remains of Indians from other northern states. Kuwaiti authorities conducted DNA tests to aid in the identification process and attributed the fire to an "electrical circuit" malfunction.

Kirti Vardhan Singh met with Kuwait's Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya Al-Sabah and Health Minister Ahmad Abdelwahab Ahmad Al-Awadi. He also visited injured Indians at Mubarak Al Kabeer Hospital and Jaber Hospital. Several individuals, including a Kuwaiti citizen and foreigners, were arrested for manslaughter and negligence in security and safety measures.

Kuwait's Emir, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber al-Sabah, directed financial assistance distribution to the families of the deceased. Prominent NRI businessman and chairman of the UAE-based Lulu Group, MA Yusuff Ali, announced a relief of ₹5 lakh for each family of the deceased.

On Wednesday night, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the situation with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, and Principal Secretary to the PM PK Mishra. Following the meeting, PM Modi announced an ex gratia relief of ₹2 lakh from the PM Relief Fund to the families of the deceased and directed the government to provide all possible assistance.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin confirmed that seven Tamils were among the dead, identifying them as Veerasamy Mariappan from Thoothukudi, E Raju from Tiruchirappalli, Krishnamurthy Chinnadurai from Cuddalore, Sivasankaran Govindan from Royapuram, Chennai, P Richard from Thanjavur, Karuppannan Ramu from Ramanathapuram, and Mohamed Sharif from Villupuram.

The Andhra Pradesh government stated that three migrant workers from the state, T Lokanandam from Srikakulam, M Satyanarayana, and M Eshwarudu from West Godavari, died in the incident. The Uttar Pradesh government also confirmed that three of the deceased were from the state, identified as Praveen Madhav Singh from Varanasi, Jairam Gupta, and Angad Gupta from Gorakhpur.