No Bangladeshi victims in Kuwait fire

No Bangladeshi victims were among the 41 workers who lost their lives in the devastating fire incident in Kuwait early Wednesday.

Abdul Hossain, Labour Counsellor at the Bangladesh Embassy in Kuwait, confirmed the matter.

He said: "According to updated information from the company and hospital, no Bangladeshi worker died in the fire incident."

The company that housed its workers in the building had not submitted any job demand letters for attestation by the Bangladesh Embassy, indicating no official employment connections with Bangladeshi workers, reports UNB.

Kuwait’s Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousuf Al-Sabah confirmed the death toll and ordered the arrest of the building’s owner during his visit to the site. “We will address the issue of labor overcrowding,” he said. “I’m now going to see what violations were committed here and I will deal with the owner of the property.”

Local media reported that scores of workers lived in the building in the southern Mangaf district but did not specify their nationalities.

Col. Sayed Hassan al-Mousawi, head of the local firefighters’ Accident Investigation Department, indicated that the number of casualties could rise as the final death toll is confirmed.