Indian experts have appealed to the government to do more to protect the lives of those who work abroad and send remittances home, after the bodies of 45 Indians who died in a fire in a labour housing facility in Kuwait were flown to India on Friday.
The Indian workers were among the 49 people who lost their lives in what appears to be a wide fire, caused by an electrical short circuit in the housing facility in Mangaf, a coastal city south of the capital Kuwait City.
Local authorities did not disclose what kind of employment the workers were engaged in, although like in other Gulf states, Kuwait relies heavily upon foreign labour in industries like construction.
Chief minister of the southern Indian state of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, joined families to receive 23 of the 45, calling the accident a national tragedy.
On Thursday, Kuwaiti prosecutors ordered one citizen and a number of residents to be remanded in custody over accusations of manslaughter due to safety negligence at the building.
