As many as 19 persons among 49 killed in a devastating fire in an apartment building in southern Kuwait were Keralaites, the Kerala government said. In an emergency cabinet meeting convened on Thursday, the state government decided to send Kerala Health Minister Veena George to Kuwait, to coordinate efforts to bring back the bodies of the deceased and medical treatment of the injured.
The state government also decided to offer a solatium of Rs 5 lakh to families of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh to persons who suffered injuries in the fire. According to reports, the majority of persons who got killed in the fire from Kerala hailed from Pathanamthitta, a district represented by the health minister. National Health Mission Director Vijay Babu will accompany the minister, the government said.
According to the statement, prominent businessmen M.A. Yusuff Ali and Ravi Pillai have informed the CM that they will provide Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, respectively, to each of the families of the Keralites who died in the fire through the government’s NORKA. Including this, each of the deceased family will receive assistance of Rs 12 lakh, it said.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Minister for Minorities Welfare and Non-Resident Tamils Welfare Gingee KS Masthan said five Tamils died in the fire. Masthan told reporters in Chennai that the victims belong to Thanjavur, Ramanathapuram and Peravurani regions of the state and they were identified as Rama Karuppan, Veerasamy Mariappan, Chinnadurai Krishnamurthy, Mohammed Sherif and Richard.
According to officials, total number of people killed in the Al-Mangaf building is 49 and 42 of them are learnt to be Indians; the remaining hailed from Pakistani, Filipino, Egyptian and Nepali nationals.
Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh has reached Kuwait to oversee assistance to those injured in the fire tragedy and coordinate with local authorities for early repatriation of mortal remains of those who have died in this unfortunate incident. An Air Force plane is also on standby to bring the bodies back.
