Bhubaneswar: The bodies of the two Odias killed in Kuwait fire have arrived in Bhubaneswar airport said reports on Saturday. The deputy CM announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 4 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased.
According to reports, the bodies of the victims were received in the presence of the two Deputy Chief Ministers, BJP state party President Manmohan Samal, Minister Bibhuti Jena and Aska MP Anitha Shubdarshani.
Reports say that as many as two Odias were among the 45 Indians who have died in the major Kuwait fire mishap, said reports on Friday. A special Indian Air Force aircraft carrying the mortal remains of the 45 Indian victims of Kuwait fire mishap had taken off for Kochi. The bodies of the Odias killed in Kuwait fire mishap were then flow to Bhubaneswar.
Informing about the updates, the Indian Embassy in Kuwait tweeted, “A special IAF aircraft carrying mortal remains of 45 Indian victims in the fire incident in Kuwait has taken off for Kochi.”
“MoS @KVSjnghMPGonda, who coordinated with Kuwaiti authorities ensuring Swift repatriation, is onboard the aircraft,” the tweet further read.
It is worth mentioning here that a massive fire engulfed a six-storey building on Wednesday that claimed 49 lives, while over 50 were left injured.
Informing about the incident, the India’s External Affairs Ministry said that among the 49 killed, mostly were Indians aged between 20 and 50 years.
Among the 45 killed, 7 were from Tamil Nadu, 3 from Andhra Pradesh,. 1 each from Odisha, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Punjab and West Bengal and 23 from Kerala.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday night spoke to his Kuwaiti counterpart Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya and urged him to ensure early repatriation of the mortal remains of those killed in a devastating fire in southern Kuwait’s Mangaf area.
Meanwhile, detailed investigation is being presently carried by the Kuwait authorities. More detailed reports are awaited.