At least 49 individuals have been killed when a significant blaze ripped by way of a residential constructing housing overseas staff in Kuwait, the Interior Ministry mentioned Wednesday.
“The number of deaths as a result of the fire in the workers’ building in the Mangaf area has risen to 49,” the ministry mentioned.
Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousuf Al-Sabah had earlier put the toll as 41 and ordered the arrest of the constructing’s proprietor throughout a go to to the location, native media reported.
“We will address the issue of labor overcrowding,” he mentioned. “I’m now going to see what violations were committed here and I will deal with the owner of the property.”
Local media mentioned scores of staff have been dwelling within the constructing within the southern Mangaf district, with out giving their nationality.
Col. Sayed Hassan al-Mousawi, head of the firefighters’ Accident Investigation Department, mentioned there have been dozens of casualties and that the ultimate demise toll could also be greater.
Kuwait, like different Persian Gulf international locations, has a big neighborhood of migrant staff who far outnumber the native inhabitants.
The nation of some 4.2 million individuals is barely smaller than the U.S. state of New Jersey however has the world’s sixth-largest identified oil reserves.
Source: www.dailysabah.com