(Kuwait) More than 35 people died in a fire in a building located in an area densely populated by foreign workers in Kuwait, the Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday.
The fire, in the suburb of Mangaf, located south of the Kuwaiti capital, also left 43 injured, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Previously, a hospital official reported 30 injured to the Minister of the Interior, Sheikh Fahd al-Youssef, who went to the victims’ bedside, according to a video broadcast by the daily Al-Jarida.
The fire broke out on the lower floors of a building inhabited by Asian workers, witnesses said, and quickly spread to the upper floors.
Only three of those killed have been identified, said General Eid al-Owaihan, director of forensic science at the Interior Ministry.
“We received the first report of the fire at 6 a.m. (11 p.m. Eastern Time). Many injured people were taken to hospitals and more than 35 people died in the building behind me,” Gen. Owaihan told state television.
The victims died of asphyxiation after inhaling the smoke released by the fire, the reasons for which have not yet been determined, according to Kuwaiti civil protection.
The owner of the building was arrested as part of an investigation into possible negligence, the Minister of the Interior said during his visit to the site.