At least 11 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were affected in a fire that broke out in a residential building in Mangaf, a coastal city south of the Kuwait capital, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) announced on Thursday.
In a report sent to DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac, the Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Kuwait said three of the 11 OFWs are safe and accounted for; three were in the hospital recovering from injuries—two of whom were under intensive care. The status of the other five OFWs is still being verified.
Cacdac instructed MWO-Kuwait to stay in touch with hospital authorities until they can fully ascertain the status of the five unaccounted OFWs.
He also directed the same unit as well as the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Welfare Office in Kuwait to attend to the immediate needs of the six OFWs.
The fire was reported at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. As of late last night, Kuwait’s Interior Ministry announced that at least 49 people died from the fire with scores injured.
The building reportedly housed nearly 200 foreign workers, according to a report by Agence France Presse (AFP).
The official Kuwait News Agency quoted Health Minister Ahmed al-Awadhi as saying hospitals had received 56 people injured in the fire in the Mangaf area, which is heavily populated with migrant laborers.
Oil-rich Kuwait has large numbers of foreign workers, many of them from South and Southeast Asia, and mostly working in construction or service industries.
A source in the fire department said the victims suffocated from rising smoke after the fire started at the building’s base.
The DMW said its MWO, in coordination with the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait, will continue monitoring the situation and give updates to the head office as necessary.