After the tragic fire incident in Kuwait claimed the lives of over 40 Indians, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday spoke to his Kuwaiti counterpart Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya who assured him of investigating the incident fully and fixing the responsibility.
In a late night post on X, Jaishankar said, “Spoke to Kuwaiti FM Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya on the fire tragedy in Kuwait. Apprised of the efforts made by Kuwaiti authorities in that regard. Was assured that the incident would be fully investigated and that responsibility will be fixed,”
He said that he has urged the Kuwaiti authorities for early repatriation of the mortal remains of those who lost their lives.
“Urged the early repatriation of the mortal remains of those who lost their lives. He (Kuwaiti FM) emphasized that those injured were getting the requisite medical attention,” the post added.
Jaishankar said the situation will be reviewed once Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh, who was asked to leave for Kuwait in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reaches there on Thursday.
“We will review the situation after MoS @KVSinghMPGonda reaches Kuwait tomorrow,” said Jaishankar
In a statement released earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs said that under the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh is immediately travelling to Kuwait “to work towards early repatriation of mortal remains as well as for medical assistance to those injured”.
Before leaving for Kuwait from Delhi Airport on Thursday, MoS Singh said, “We had a meeting last evening with the PM… The situation will be cleared the moment we reach there… The situation is that the victims are mostly burn victims and some of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition. A DNA test is underway to identify the victims.”
He said the an Air Force plane is ready to bring the mortal remains of the victims back as soon as the bodies identified and the kin of those who lost their lives will also be informed about the same.
“…The latest figures that we had last night, the casualty figures are around 48-49 out of this 42 or 43 are believed to be Indians,” said Singh.
In a meeting, PM Modi said that the identification of the casualties is underway and the injured people are being taken care of properly.
A fire broke out in a building housing workers in the city of Mangaf in southern Kuwait early on Wednesday. The Indian Embassy has put in place an emergency helpline number +965-65505246 in connection with the tragic fire incident involving Indian workers as well.
PM Modi also announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister Relief Fund to the families of deceased Indian nationals.
With inputs from agencies
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