A special Indian Air Force plane carrying the mortal remains of 45 Indians who died in a fire that engulfed the six-storeyed building they were living in Kuwait City took off for Kochi in the early hours of Friday, with MoS External Affairs KV Singh on board.
The plane, after reaching Kochi, will proceed to Delhi.
The Indian Embassy in Kuwait said on X, “A special IAF aircraft carrying mortal remains of 45 Indian victims in the fire incident in Kuwait has taken off for Kochi. MoS @KVSinghMPGonda, who coordinated with Kuwaiti authorities ensuring swift repatriation, is onboard the aircraft.”
The Indian Embassy in a press statement also said that 23 of those who died were 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 mortal remains would be handed over to the concerned state government representatives in Kochi and Delhi.
It also said that there were 176 Indian workers in the housing facility in Mangaf area that caught fire.
It said that 33 Indians are admitted to various hospitals in Kuwait City, 45 perished in the fire, while the rest of the Indians are reportedly safe.
The injured Indians are in five hospitals in Kuwait City – Adan, Mubarak al-Kabeer, Jaber, Farwaniya, and Jahra. MoS Singh visited all the five hospitals and met the Indian patients. All the Indian patients are reportedly safe and will be discharged progressively depending on their medical condition, it said.
The Government of India arranged a special IAF aircraft to transport the mortal remains on June 13 evening.
Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef, the First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior, and Minister of Defense of Kuwait, said on Thursday that “48 bodies have been identified, 45 of Indian nationality and three of Filipino nationality, and work is underway to determine the identity of the last body”.
