Sixteen Indians were killed and another seven were injured in a blaze in a three-storey building in Bahrain’s capital Manama on Sunday, officials said.
A Bahraini Interior Ministry statement carried on BNA news agency said the 16 died from smoke inhalation and another seven people were injured when the fire broke out at dawn at a building which housed employees of a nearby hotel.
An official from the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs told Reuters in New Delhi the 16 killed were from India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Ajit Kumar said seven injured Indians were in hospital, adding the ministry had set up help lines in New Delhi for victims’ families.
Vayalar Ravi, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, told Times Now television that New Delhi was making arrangements to bring back the bodies within a day or two and would then consider asking Bahrain for compensation for the workers’ families.
The tiny kingdom of Bahrain, like many Gulf Arab states, relies on a large number of foreign workers, mostly from Asian countries. — Reuters