Many Keralites lost lives in Kuwait fire incident, Shameer among them

The Kuwait fire incident claimed the lives of around 40 Indian workers and among them is 30yearold Shameer hailing from Sooranad village in Keralas Kollam districtAround 40 Indians are understood to have died and over 50 are injured in a tragic fire incident at a labour housing facility in the Mangaf area of Kuwait on Wednesday the Ministry of External Affairs said adding the injured are being treated in five government hospitals in KuwaitSpeaking with ANI Safedu Shameers relative said He Shameer left here five years ago He works for a company in Kuwait run by three people from Pathanamthitta Two years ago he came back and got married and its been eight months since he left againShameer worked as a heavy vehicle driver in Kuwait The family learned about the incident at 1100 am on Wednesday the relative saidNajeeb who works with Shameer and lives a kilometre away informed us We contacted several people in Kuwait He was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital The body is currently at a government hospital No official information has been provided yet Safedu saidHe further said that the people in Kuwait are keeping them informedShameers wife and mother have not been told about his death they have been told he is in the ICU We have been informed that the Finance Minister will visit in the coming days MP Kodikunnil Suresh called and we request that the central and state governments intervene to bring Shameers body back home as soon as possible Safedu saidJalaludeen Najeebs father who survived the fire said that his son broke his leg while he was trying to escape the fireNajeeb has been in Kuwait for four years He called and informed me that a building caught fire in Kuwait and that Shameer had died My son Najeeb jumped from the second floor to escape and broke his leg but he said there were no other major issuesJalaludeen further said that his son couldnt come home immediately as he needs to complete his treatment and other formalitiesI learned from the news channel that 11 people died We didnt get any information from anyone in Kuwait I found out that it was a company run by Malayalees Najeebs treatment is ongoing in coordination with the embassy Jalaludeen told ANIAl Ameen Najeebs brother said I videocalled my brother in the afternoon Someone knocked on the door and when they opened it there was smoke After that he grabbed his phone and jumped from the building His leg is broken By evening he had been moved to his camp He called home a little while ago and spoke with his wife Those near his room were saddened when they learned about the deathsShanavas a friend of Shameer and Najeeb informed that he received the information of fire on the morning of June 12I found out about the incident this morning It was a huge shock Learning that Shameer had died was devastating When I heard that Najeeb had survived I called and spoke to him I didnt know what to say Im still in shockHe added further We grew up together in the same village The last time I spoke to both of them was when they visited home together We grew up together like brothersThe Kuwait fire incident also took the life of Kasaragod native Kelu Ponmaleri A resident of Thrikaripur town in Kasaragod Ponmaleri was working as a production engineer with NBTC Group He is survived by his wife KN Mani who is a Panchayat employee and two sonsThe other deceased has been identified as 34yearold Ranjith also from Kasaragad who was working in Kuwait for the last 10 yearsCongress leader and Kerala Leader of Opposition LoP VD Satheesan said that several Malayalees lost their lives in the fire incidentHe said More than 45 people have died and several people have been seriously injured in the fire that broke out in the labour camp in Mangaf Block 4 According to reports many Malayalees lost their lives in the accidentHe added further There was a tragedy that made the entire Kerala cry It is hoped that the details of the deceased will be available in coordination with the central and state governmentsAlso in the wake of the Kuwait tragedy the inaugural conference seminar and related programmes of the Lok Kerala Sabha were cancelled The Lok Kerala Sabha meeting will be held on June 14 and 15 as scheduled However there will be no celebrations the statement saidMeanwhile Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with the team of the Ministry of External Affairs and other officials on Wednesday evening regarding the tragic fire incident in KuwaitThe External Affairs team will leave for Kuwait on Thursday to take stock of the situation and see those injured currently being treated in hospitalWe stand with the victims of the Kuwait fire incident we express our sympathy to them We had a meeting with PM Modi and tomorrow morning we are travelling to Kuwait We will take stock of the situation and those who are admitted to the hospital Union Minister of State MoS for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told ANIThe MoS highlighted that the maximum Indian workers are from Kerala and other parts of South IndiaThe maximum people are from Kerala and other parts of South India and the identification process is underway he said adding We will stay there as long as we are neededEarlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the fire incident in Kuwait which took place on WednesdayPM Modi expressed his sadness over the fire mishap in Kuwait City adding that his thoughts are with the family and close ones of the victims of the incidentHe further assured that the Indian embassy in Kuwait is closely monitoring the situation and working with the concerned authorities for further assistanceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever