The road begins as a narrow lane at Mepral, a village straddling the border between Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts. It stretches for about 200 metres, ending at a small house squeezed into a tiny property.
Beyond it lies an endless expanse of water merging into the polders of upper Kuttanad. Outside, the thick scent of camphor sticks masks the pervasive stench. The sombre mood inside starkly contrasts with the devotional songs that fill the air.
A mobile freezer is placed outside the house. It holds the lifeless body of Oommen C. Thomas, known as Jobi, a 37-year-old who died in a blaze that engulfed a labour camp in Mangaf, Kuwait, last week. Jinumol, Oommen’s widow, sits motionless beside the freezer. Three days have passed since the news of her husband’s death shattered her world and she remains in a state of shock. Jesica, her five-year-old daughter, innocent and oblivious to the people pouring in, plays with her doll.
Family members of Shibu Varghese, a native of Payippad in Kottayam, who died in the Kuwait blaze, mourn next to his coffin kept at a Church before the funeral on June 16. | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT
“Even when the news first broke, Jobi’s name wasn’t on the list of the deceased. We clung to hope, prayed he had escaped. But it was all in vain,” laments Rani, Jobi’s mother. Oommen used to call the family every day after his duty hours, but he didn’t on the day of the fire. The family was told that he had been dropped back at the building just half-an-hour before the fire by a friend and probably didn’t get time to talk to his family one last time.
Oommen, who had been working in the quality check wing of the company for the past five years, was building a new house with his brother in another piece of land, higher up with better road access. “He planned to come home for vacation in August and move us to the new house,” she says, her voice choked in grief.
Fifty people, including 46 Indians, lost their lives in the blaze that tore through a six-storey building on June 12. According to the Indian embassy in Kuwait, the victims from India included 23 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 building, rented by the NBTC Group, a construction major run by Keralite businessman K.G. Abraham, housed a total of 196 people, predominantly Indians.
Relatives of Thomas C. Oommen, who died in the Kuwait blaze, grieving over his death at his residence, which sits crammed inside a property surrounded by the endless expanse of water from three sides on June 16. | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT
Among the dead were three Philippine nationals and one unidentified person. Most fatalities were due to smoke inhalation, as the accident occurred around 4 a.m. when the occupants were asleep.
Eyewitness accounts paint a terrifying scene at the accident site. “Bedsheets could be seen dangling from the handrail of the balcony of the building, which, according to some eyewitnesses, were used by men to get out of the apartment. Many others were not so lucky as they could not escape the smoke and fire that engulfed them in their sleep,” says Sahar-Moussa, a senior journalist of Kuwait Times, who reported the accident for the newspaper.
A few others fell to death as they jumped off the fifth and sixth floors of the building in their desperate effort to escape the inferno. Some lucky men survived the fall though they suffered broken limbs. The injured ones were shifted to hospitals, says Moussa.
“It all started around 4 a.m. when all the workers were fast asleep after the day’s hard labour. A short-circuit at the lower floor of the building triggered the fire, which quickly spread to the upper floors. Most of the victims died in their sleep as thick smoke filled the rooms in which they were sleeping,” says Moussa.
Fire and rescue workers and the police arrived within four minutes of the accident and began rescue operations. There were around 200 inmates in the building at the time of the accident. Some rooms were packed with around 20 men, she says.
Kuwait’s Fire Force attributed the fire to an electrical short-circuit at the security guard’s office on the ground floor, based on a field examination which was reported by the State-run Kuwait News Agency. Kuwait Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Fahad al-Yousuf al-Sabah visited the site and ordered the immediate arrest of the building’s owner. “Unfortunately, the greed of real estate owners leads to these tragedies,” he was quoted as saying.
Jinumol, wife of Thomas C. Oommen, and their five-year-old daughter grieving over the death of her husband at their residence in Mepral, near Thiruvalla, on June 16. | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT
The country’s public prosecution later announced on X that it had taken several individuals, including a Kuwaiti national, into custody on charges of committing “killing and injury by error due to negligence of security and safety precautions against fires”.
Of the 24 Keralites who lost their lives, five were from Pathanamthitta district, four from Kollam, three each from Kottayam and Kannur, two each from Thiruvananthapuram, Kasaragod, and Malappuram, and one each from Alappuzha and Thrissur districts. The victims were all workers pursuing various jobs, from engineers and accountants to drivers and storekeepers.
Sharafudheen Kanneth, former president of the Kuwait Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre, was at the forefront of the relief mission in Mangaf. “Of the 29 people rescued with injuries, 23 are still in different hospitals here. Except for a few in ICUs, the rest are expected to leave the hospital in a few days. Most sustained injuries trying to escape by jumping off the building or climbing down through cables,” he says over the phone from Kuwait.
Thomas Joseph, a 51-year-old from Karukachal in Kottayam, made a providential escape by jumping off the fourth floor of the building at the urging of his wife and two sons, who saw him running for his life in a live video. He hit the ground face down, breaking both his hands and injuring his face. “Thank God he is saved. He’s now out of the ICU and under the care of his brother Benny Joseph, who also works in Kuwait,” says a relative.
Similarly, Nalinakshan from Thirkkarippur in Kasaragod and Sarath from Thavanoor in Malappuram all escaped with daring jumps.
But as stories about the tragic deaths and miraculous escapes circulate, they also give rise to questions about the safety of the building that housed these ill-fated workers. According to experts, many labourers in the relentless heat and humidity of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries live in substandard conditions.
“It looked like a decent labour camp from outside but where were the basic systems such as fire alarms or water sprinklers?” asks Divya Balan, an Assistant Professor at Flame University in Pune, specialising in expatriate issues in West Asia.
“The victims were alerted to the fire only when others raised an alarm or they inhaled smoke. Safety often takes a backseat in such camps, often called bachelor houses accommodating single men, as compliance with standard norms is poor,” she notes.
Having done extensive fieldwork in workers’ camps across the United Arab Emirates, Divya points out that the standard of most labour camps in the GCC countries depends on the status of the employer. Most workers do not have the bargaining power to demand better facilities. Such fire accidents are not random but often go unreported unless there are injuries or casualties.
Low-paid blue-collar workers, who work in hazardous conditions and live in cramped housing provided by companies, often do not have insurance. Adding to their woes, there are no mandatory centralised provisions for insurance in most cases, she adds.
“Such accidents are bound to happen as long as the Kafala (contractual labour) system of employment exists there. The existing labour laws in that country are indeed hostile to workers and instead support employers and labour contractors,” points out a top office-bearer of an organisation that works to ensure the welfare of non-resident Keralites abroad.
According to him, the labour laws in most parts of GCC countries regard migrant workers as a disposable component. “Employers are least bothered about the safety of workers as long as they can substitute person X with person Y,” he says.
Although the choice of residence for Keralites has shifted away from the GCC (from 89.2% in 2018 to 80.5% in 2023, according to the Kerala Migration Survey (KMS) 2023), West Asia still remains the strongest corridor for the Keralite diaspora. The KMS shows that the UAE accounts for the highest number of emigrants with 38.6%, while Kuwait, in fifth place, accounts for 5.8% of Keralite emigrants.
P.P. Narayanan, a former community welfare officer at the Indian embassy in Kuwait, says the dead and injured in the accident are entitled to compensation. “Depending on various criteria, including the family background of the deceased, each victim’s family will receive up to ₹50 lakh. The process, however, may take a couple of years to complete,” he says.
Regarding compliance with fire safety in Kuwait, he points to gaps in the safety system in most labour camps due to weak enforcement mechanisms. But Indian companies generally ensure a decent standard of living for their workers, primarily in the face of check-ups from the embassy. Since expats are not allowed to own buildings, the building owner will naturally be held accountable in case of accidents in such units.
The NBTC Group has offered ₹8 lakh to the kin of the victims. Additionally, there is insurance coverage for all employees, ensuring that families receive four years’ salaries of the deceased, said Abraham, founder managing director of the group, at a press conference in Kochi. “We will also provide jobs to the dependents of the families in our group as per their educational qualifications,” he added.
The company also dismissed reports of crowding in the ill-fated building. “The six-storey building had 24 apartments, each with three rooms. Managers occupied one room, and two engineers shared another. International law permits accommodation for four persons per room, or four cubic metres per person,” explained Abraham.
The Kuwaiti government has announced that it will provide compensation of $15,000 (approximately ₹12.5 lakh) to each family of the victims who lost their lives in the devastating fire. The Union government has already announced compensation of ₹2 lakh each to the families of Indian nationals. The Kerala government has also pledged to provide ₹5 lakh financial assistance to the victims’ families, besides a sum of ₹11 lakh announced by various Gulf-based businessmen from Kerala.
“But how much is a mother’s grief for her child worth?” asks Sherly Abraham, mother of Stephin Abraham Sabu from Pampadi, Kottayam, who died in the accident. Stephin, 29, was the eldest of her three sons. “He was soon going to have a home of his own, and we were actively searching for a girl for him. Why has fate been so cruel to us?” she laments inconsolably, gazing at the lifeless body of her son.
There are no satisfactory answers to her dilemmas, and perhaps, there never will be.
(with inputs from K.S. Sudhi)
Published - June 20, 2024 08:32 pm IST
