Three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were confirmed to have died in a fire at a building where they were staying in Kuwait on Wednesday, June 12, while two others remain in critical condition at a Kuwaiti hospital.

Kuwaiti authorities reported on Thursday the detention of three individuals on suspicion of manslaughter. Fifty foreign workers, including 45 Indians, were killed in the fire. 50 others were injured.

Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said that the three, who died from smoke inhalation, together with the two who are still at the hospital, are part of a group of 11 OFWs working for a Kuwaiti construction company and housed in the building that caught fire. The remaining six are all safe and unharmed, he added.

Cacdac shared that he already instructed the Migrant Workers Office in Kuwait (MWO-Kuwait) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Welfare Office to coordinate their efforts with the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait under Ambassador Jose Cabrera for the repatriation of the three workers’ remains.

The DMW chief assured that he and OWWA Administrator Arnell Ignacio are personally reaching out to all the families and relatives of the 11 OFWs who were affected by the incident.

“We are in touch with the families of all the affected OFWs, including the families of those two in critical condition and the families of the three fatalities. Six of them are now safe and provided with their immediate needs,” Cacdac said.

“We will provide all the necessary assistance and support to the OFWs and their families in this difficult time as directed by the President,” he added, referring to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

Various international media outlets quoted Kuwait authorities’ report that the fire started at about 4:30 a.m. (9:30 a.m. Manila time) on June 12 in the 6-storey building in al-Mangaf, a coastal city south of Kuwait City, which served as a housing and dormitory facility for foreign workers employed by the Kuwaiti construction company.

More than 195 foreign workers, most of them Indian nationals, were staying in the building at the time of the incident.

Initial investigations noted that the fire erupted when most of the people in the building were asleep. Most of the victims suffocated from the thick clouds of smoke while others died after they jumped from the upper floors of the building to escape the fire, the authorities said.

The Kuwait Interior Ministry confirmed that 49 people died in the incident, while the Kuwait Health Ministry said 56 injured individuals were taken to local hospitals.

Several news organizations reported that 42 of the casualties were Indian nationals.

The blaze is described as the worst building fire in Kuwait’s history.

It is also the second largest fire incident in that country in terms of the number of casualties, next to a 2009 fire that engulfed a tent where a wedding party was being held, killing 57 people.

Kuwait’s ruler Emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah ordered an immediate investigation into the incident and pledged to hold accountable anyone who would be found responsible.

The Kuwait government also ordered a crackdown on housing violations, especially focusing on possible overcrowding and failure to comply with safety conditions.

Contributed photo