June 15th 2024.
On a solemn Saturday in Bhubaneswar, a delegation from the state government, led by Deputy Chief Ministers Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo and Pravati Parida, paid their respects to two workers from Odisha who tragically lost their lives in a fire in Kuwait. The Biju Patnaik International Airport served as the gathering place for the community to mourn and honor the fallen workers as a special aircraft carrying their mortal remains landed there.
The bodies were then brought to the airport for a brief period so that people could pay their final respects before being handed over to their loved ones. In recognition of their tragic deaths, the state government announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the victims. The two workers were identified as Muhammad Jahur and Santosh Kumar Gouda, hailing from Purosottampur block of Ganjam district and Tigiria police limits in Cuttack district respectively.
Both Jahur and Gouda were employed by a private company and were residing in a seven-storey apartment building in Mangaf, Kuwait. Tragically, a fire broke out in the building in the early hours of Wednesday, claiming the lives of 45 Indians, including Jahur and Gouda.
The families of the victims shared heart-wrenching stories about their loved ones. Jahur, who had been married for only two years, was expecting his first child with his wife who was seven months pregnant. He had been working in Kuwait since 2017 and had recently visited his village just a month ago. Similarly, Gouda had also visited his village in March and had returned to Kuwait in April.
The bodies of the 45 Indian workers, including Jahur and Gouda, were flown to Kochi on Friday and then to Delhi. Among the victims were 23 from Kerala, seven from Tamil Nadu, three each from Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, two from Odisha, and one each from Bihar, Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Haryana.
The devastating fire that claimed the lives of these hardworking individuals started in a six-storey building in Kuwait's Mangaf city. The Indian embassy reported that out of the 176 Indian workers living in the facility, 45 lost their lives while 33 were hospitalized. It was a tragic incident that has left the community in mourning and the families of the victims in deep sorrow. Our hearts go out to all those affected by this terrible tragedy.
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