Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Relatives grieve as bodies of 45 Kuwait fire victims return to India

Fifty people died in the apartment fire and anguished relatives back in India were frantically chasing news to know about their loved ones

Relatives grieve as bodies of 45 Kuwait fire victims return to India

Grieving families kept a solemn vigil at Kochi airport on Friday as the bodies of dozens of migrant workers killed in a Kuwait building fire returned home.

Wednesday's dawn blaze quickly engulfed a housing block home to some of the many foreign labourers servicing the oil-rich gulf state's economy.


Fifty people died in the resulting inferno, 45 of them Indians, with dozens more hospitalised and anguished relatives back home frantically chasing news of whether their loved ones had perished.

"We held on to hope till the last minute that maybe he got out, maybe he's in the hospital," Anu Aby, the neighbour of 31-year-old victim Cibin Abraham, told AFP.

Aby said that Abraham had been due to return to his home in Kerala state in August for his child's first birthday.

Abraham had been on the phone to his wife just an hour before the fire began, he added.

Others sat in a waiting area at Kochi airport in India's south, wiping away tears as the Indian Air Force plane carrying the remains of their relatives touched down.

Most of oil-rich Kuwait's population of more than four million is made up of foreigners.

Many of them are from South and Southeast Asia working in construction and service industries, and living in overcrowded housing blocks like the one that went up in flames on Wednesday.

Nearly 200 people were living in the building and many of the dead and injured suffocated from smoke inhalation after being trapped by the flames, according to a fire department source.

The bodies of many of the dead were charred beyond recognition and needed to be formally identified through DNA testing before they were repatriated.

One Kuwaiti and two foreign residents have been detained on suspicion of manslaughter through negligence of security procedures and fire regulations, authorities in the Gulf state said Thursday.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef vowed to address "labour overcrowding and neglect", and threatened to close any buildings that flout safety rules.

Three Filipinos were also among the dead, with the country's migrant workers secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac saying authorities in Manila were in touch with next of kin.

The blaze was one of the worst seen in Kuwait, which borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia and sits on about seven percent of the world's known oil reserves.

In 2009, 57 people died when a Kuwaiti woman, apparently seeking revenge, set fire to a tent at a wedding party when her husband married a second wife. (AFP)

More For You

Liz Kendall

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall will outline welfare reforms in a green paper next week, followed by chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement on 26 March.

Ministers may drop plan to freeze disability benefits: Report

MINISTERS are considering dropping plans to freeze Personal Independence Payments (PIP) for a year, according to a report.

Initial proposals suggested PIP would not rise in line with inflation, but strong opposition from Labour MPs has prompted a review.

Keep ReadingShow less
BBC settles age and sex discrimination case
BBC headquarters in Central London.
Getty Images

BBC settles age and sex discrimination case

THE BBC on Friday (14) said it had settled a case with four female journalists who claimed they lost their jobs because of their sex and age.

Martine Croxall, Annita McVeigh, Karin Giannone and Kasia Madera, who have all presented on the BBC's television channels, claimed they lost their jobs following a "rigged" recruitment exercise.

Keep ReadingShow less
Indian student in US self-deports after visa revocation

In this screenshot from a video posted by @Sec_Noem via X on March 14, 2025, Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen who participated in pro-Palestinian protests at United State’s Columbia University, leaves the country after her visa was revoked by the Department of State. (@Sec_Noem via PTI Photo)

Indian student in US self-deports after visa revocation

AN INDIAN student at Columbia University, whose visa was revoked for allegedly supporting Hamas, has self-deported, says the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen, came to the US on an F-1 student visa as a doctoral student in Urban Planning at Columbia University, and her visa was revoked on March 5.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Companies with diverse leadership are better positioned for growth'

From LtoR- Lord Karan Bilimoria, Sir Trevor Phillips, Seema Malhotra MP, David Tyler and Nathan Coe

'Companies with diverse leadership are better positioned for growth'

COMPANIES with diverse leadership are better positioned for sustainable growth, improved decision-making, and will connect better with multicultural markets, equalities minister Seema Malhotra has said.

She added that the government will soon launch a public consultation on their approach to mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting.

Keep ReadingShow less
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar with  Wang Yi (right)

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar with Wang Yi (right)

S Jaishankar: ‘Delhi’s global interests shape its regional ties'

INDIA today sees itself as a global power or, at least, a country with global interests, which is why Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has spoken of its equation with Russia, China and notably the Middle East.

India’s external affairs minister was in conversation last Wednesday (5) in London with Bronwen Maddox, director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House.

Keep ReadingShow less