The Hindu : Front Page : 16 Indians die in Bahrain fire

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 31, 2006

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16 Indians die in Bahrain fire

Both dead and injured hail from Tamil Nadu

Manama: At least 16 Indians, all from Tamil Nadu, died of suffocation and 11 were injured when a fire broke out in a three-storey building housing over 200 expatriates in this capital city of Bahrain early on Sunday.

The fire, apparently caused by a short circuit, broke out at around 2.30 a.m. (5 a.m. IST) in the second floor of the building used as a residence for workers in the Gudabiya area here, officials said.

The Bahrain Interior Ministry said ``16 suffocated to death due to heavy smoke... ''

The Indian Ambassador to Manama Balakrishna Shetty, who along with Bahrain Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa visited the site of the accident, said those injured suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning and were on oxygen support in the Salmaniya Medical Hospital. One of the injured also suffered a fracture in his hand as he tried to jump from a window after breaking its glass to escape the fire. However, the injured were out of danger, said Mr. Shetty, who visited them in hospital. The ambassador said all the victims — both dead and injured — were from Tamil Nadu and worked for the Royal Towers construction company. He said the people on the ground and first floors of the building escaped the fire and shifted to a neighbouring gym. The company was warned in January over the poor safety of the workers but had not taken any safety measures and was flouting the labour laws, he said. — PTI

The dead identified

Neena Vyas reports from New Delhi:

Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed offered his deepest condolences to the families and relatives of the victims. The Bahrain police were investigating the case and had assured the Indian embassy there that anyone found guilty of carelessness would be prosecuted.

Mr. Ahamed told The Hindu that all the workers in the affected camp had been shifted to a safe place and the Bahrain authorities had assured India of all assistance.

Formalities being completed

Arrangements were being made to send the bodies to India as soon as the formalities were completed, the Minister said. The Indian Government was in touch with the embassy and with the authorities in Bahrain.

All the dead have been identified, he said, giving their names as:

Rajavelu, Raja, Balusamy, Poomalai, Muthuvel, Senthil, Shiva, Kannadasan, Chinnadurai, Sivaprakasam, Palimuthu, Kumar, Muthaian, Rajaratam, Subramanian, and Shankar.

The injured were identified as: S.Tevendran, Ramachandran Thangarasu, A.Nelmurugan, Rajasekharan, Sai Kumar, Ranganathan, R.Dhanavan, Venkatesa Murthy, Sellavel Shanmugam, Muthuswamy Poomalai and Rajavel Dhanavel.

Control room set up

The Indian embassy has set up a control room for receiving telephone calls from those who wish to make any inquiries. The numbers are: 00-973-17712683 and 00-973-17712649. The First Secretary A.K. Bhatnagar may also be contacted at 00-973-17714551 (office) or 00-973-17729880 (residence). In addition, email may be sent to: indemb@batelco.com.bh or FAX to 00-973-17715527.

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