Many who died in Kuwait fires were about to end their stay abroad | News from India

K Nooh, 41, hails from the Tirur coast of Malappuram and was in Kuwait for 11 years. Every year he would return home and say he would end his life abroad, but since he had many commitments to fulfil, he always ended up returning.

He was last in Kerala two months ago. “On Tuesday, he called his wife Barhath. But his three daughters were in school, so he could not talk to them. He promised to make a WhatsApp call on Wednesday morning, but fate did not allow it,” said Abdul Basheer, the family’s neighbour in Malappuram.

UK Aneesh Kumar, 56, from Kannur, was also looking to end his stay in the Gulf. After working in Kuwait for 25 years, he had returned to his hometown Kuruva in April with the intention of staying with his family forever. However, at the last moment he changed his mind and decided to play another innings in Kuwait. He flew back to the country on May 16.

Prime Minister Muraleedharan, 61, who had lived in Kuwait for the past 30 years, also returned home six months ago with the intention of staying there. However, he returned to Kuwait in February as the NBTC, where he was a supervisor, asked him to work for another year.

Among the victims were young professionals who had just started their careers abroad. Thirty-five-year-old Vishwas Krishnan had left Kannur’s Dharmadam for Kuwait just nine months ago. It was his first trip. He had worked as a draftsman in Bengaluru for years before deciding to move to the Gulf. He leaves behind his wife Pooja and their three-year-old son.

Among the victims were Mathew Thomas, 53, and his nephew Shibu Varghese, 38, from Pandanad in Alappuzha. Mathew had been living in Kuwait for 30 years and Shibu for 10 years. Both worked at NBTC. Back home, Mathew’s eldest daughter Megha, a trained nurse, had completed all the formalities for a job in Kuwait to join her father.

Another victim, Stephin Abraham, 29, of Pambady in Kottayam, wanted to return and get married. He had been in Kuwait for the past five years and six months ago he was on home leave to oversee the construction of a new house. He was due to return in October for the house-warming ceremony and to look for a bride.

The father of a three-year-old girl, Shibu Varghese, 38, also died in the fire. He called home every evening via video call to see his wife and daughter. His wife Rosy, who works as a nurse in Kottayam, was worried when he did not call on Wednesday evening. By Thursday, she had come to terms with the fact that her husband was dead.