Family in Kerala awaits confirmation on breadwinner’s fate in Kuwait fire

Kollam: A family in Kerala’s Kollam district is praying that the news they received unofficially on Wednesday morning about the tragedy that struck Shameer, their sole breadwinner, in the Kuwait fire incident, is not true.

Shameer, hailing from Vayyankara village in this south Kerala district, had been working in Kuwait for the past few years. It was at around 11.30 am that his family received information from a friend about the reported tragic death of Shemeer in the fire.

“So far, there has been no official communication, either from the company or the embassy. We learned about the incident through the family of a colleague who was injured in the fire,” a family member told reporters.

In the wake of the incident, local political leaders have stepped in to help. They have reached out to authorities in New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram, seeking more information and urging a speedy and clear update on Shameer’s status.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar seeking the Centre’s intervention in the Kuwait fire incident which claimed over 40 lives, including several Malayalees.

In a brief message, he said that among the 40 people reportedly killed in the mishap, some were believed to be Malayalees.

Over 40 people, the majority of them Indians, were killed in a devastating fire in a building housing labourers in southern Kuwait, central government officials said on Wednesday.

The fire in Al-Mangaf building was reported to authorities in Al-Ahmadi governorate at 4.30 am and most of the deaths were due to smoke inhalation, Kuwaiti media reported.

Construction firm NBTC group rented the building for the stay of more than 195 workers, most of them Indians from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and northern states, the Kuwaiti media said.