The tragic fire incident in Kuwait that claimed the lives of over 49 people, over 40 of them Indians, may have been caused by a gas leak from the building's ground floor, according to local media reports. However, there has been no official word on how the blaze started or what caused it.
Kuwait Fire Department head of investigations Col Sayed Al-Mousawi told Kuwait Times that over two dozen cooking gas cylinders were found on the building’s ground floor.
Mousawi added that the probe team also found that inflammable material was used as a partition between apartments and rooms. This caused the fire to rage as thick plumes of smoke filled the building.
The chief added that many victims suffocated while trying to run down the stairs because they were filled with smoke. Though many tried to go to the rooftop, the door was locked, trapping them inside the building.
The investigation team has collected material to determine the cause of the fire.
Mousawi said that the fire teams received an emergency call at 4.23 am and the teams arrived at 4.28 am. The team's timely intervention helped save many lives by putting out the fire in under 10 minutes of arrival. However, the multiple violations inside and outside the building hindered the work of the fire teams and five firemen were injured in the process, Kuwait Times quoted the fire chief.
An Egyptian worker, one of the people who escaped the blaze with minor injuries, told reporters from his hospital bed that it took him two hours to get out of the building with the help of firemen. He also recalled seeing several charred bodies on his way down.
Deputy Premier, Defense and Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef Al-Sabah visited the tragedy site and injured workers were taken for treatment. He has ordered the arrest of the Kuwaiti landlord of the building and the Egyptian guard of the building.
The labour camp where the incident occurred was run by a construction firm NBTC group, which rented the building for the stay of more than 195 workers. The company too is partly owned by an Indian and most of the workers were from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and northern states.
