45 workers who died in a fire in Kuwait are brought home by India

45 Indians lost their lives in a fire in a labor housing facility in Kuwait; their bodies were flown back to India on Friday, amid calls from grieving family members and experts for New Delhi to take more action to safeguard the lives of those who work overseas and send money home.

The fire that broke out in the housing site on Wednesday in Mangaf, a seaside city south of Kuwait City, was most likely sparked by an electrical short circuit. Among the 49 fatalities were the Indian laborers. Thirty-three more are receiving hospital treatment.

On TV, grieving families could be seen awaiting the arrival of their loved ones’ bodies at the airport. Upon arrival, the caskets were arranged in the airport’s cargo building with pictures of the departed on individual tables.

Police placed a guard of honor over them as officials, preachers, families, and friends paid their respects.

Kerala, the state in southern India, produced twenty-three of the forty-five victims. Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala’s chief minister, referred to the event as “a national tragedy”.

“The largest catastrophe involving migrants is this one. The migrants are seen as our lifeblood. The state has suffered a great loss,” he informed reporters.

The bulk of Kuwait’s labor force, as well as that of several of its Gulf neighbors, consists of millions of foreign workers, many of whom live in cramped quarters.

On Thursday, Kuwaiti prosecutors issued an order for the remand of several residents and one citizen in custody on charges of manslaughter resulting from the building’s safety incompetence.

176 personnel were claimed to reside there by India’s foreign ministry.

According to the Philippine Migrant Workers Ministry, three Filipino workers were among the other deceased, while two more were critically ill and being treated in a hospital.

The nature of the workers’ employment was not disclosed by the local authorities, despite Kuwait’s heavy reliance on foreign labor in sectors such as construction, similar to other Gulf states.

According to data provided to the Indian parliament by the foreign ministry in 2023, almost 60% of the approximately 13 million Indians who work overseas are employed in Gulf countries. Kuwait ranks third among nations with populations close to 850,000.

The foreign ministry of India claims to have a “robust mechanism” in place to keep an eye on labor conditions overseas. Commentators, however, felt it should go farther.
An editorial in the Indian Express on Friday stated that the fire in Kuwait “is a reminder of the dismal working conditions of a large, and often ignored, section of the Indian diaspora”.