Fire in Kuwait: Dozens dead in flames in apartment block

At least 49 people were killed in a fire in a residential building in the Kuwaiti city of Mangaf, according to the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry.

A video shared on social media showed flames engulfing the lower part of the building and thick black smoke rising from the upper floors.

Many of the victims are said to be guest workers living there.

Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Fahad Yusuf al-Sabah accused the property owners of greed and said violations of building regulations led to the tragedy.

“Unfortunately, the greed of the property owners has led to this,” Sheikh al-Sabah, also the acting interior minister, told the Reuters news agency.

“They are violating regulations and this is the consequence of those violations.”

Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Eid al-Oweihan told state television the fire was reported at 06:00 local time (03:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

He said the situation was now under control and rescue efforts were continuing.

According to local media reports, the building housed 196 workers and there are indications that it may have been overcrowded.

A senior police official told state television that there were “many” people in the building at the time of the fire.

“Dozens were rescued, but unfortunately there were also many deaths from smoke inhalation,” he said, adding that there had been frequent warnings about overcrowding in this type of accommodation.

No information has yet been provided about the workers’ countries of origin or the nature of their employment.

However, unconfirmed reports appeared in the Indian media that most of the victims were from the subcontinent.

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said in a post on X that embassy staff had visited the injured in hospital. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also on X, conveyed his condolences to the families of the deceased.

Two-thirds of Kuwait’s population are foreign workers and the country is heavily dependent on migrant workers, particularly in the construction and domestic sectors.

Human rights groups have regularly expressed concern about their living conditions.