New Delhi: Over 40 Indians were killed and over 50 others injured in a massive fire that broke out in a building housing around 195 migrant workers in the Mangaf area of southern Kuwait early in the morning, officials said on Wednesday. The total death toll in the Al-Mangaf building has risen to 49, of which 42 victims are Indian nationals. The rest of the casualties include Pakistani, Filipino, Egyptian and Nepalese nationals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the fire incident as "tragic" and held a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister PK Mishra to review the situation.
An official statement said Prime Minister Modi expressed deep grief over the "unfortunate incident" and offered condolences to the families of the deceased. He announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to each family of the deceased Indian nationals from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. Following the Prime Minister's instructions, Minister of State for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh is immediately departing for Kuwait to provide assistance to the injured Indians and ensure early repatriation of the bodies of those killed.
