A special Air Force aircraft carrying the bodies of Indians, including Malayalis, who perished in the Kuwait fire disaster, has departed for Kochi. The aircraft is expected to arrive in Kochi at 8:30 am, having taken off from Kuwait at 1:15 am local time. Union Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan, along with other officials, is on board.
The fire broke out on Wednesday in a residential building owned by NBTC, an expatriate Malayali, in Block 4 of Mangaf, Kuwait. Out of the 49 victims, 45 were Indians, including 24 Malayalis.
Reports indicate that the bodies of 31 of the 45 deceased will be brought to Cochin International Airport, after which the aircraft will proceed to Delhi with the remaining bodies. Norka officials have stated that the bodies being brought to Kochi include 23 Malayalis, seven residents of Tamil Nadu, and one resident of Karnataka. Among the deceased is a native of Karunagappally, Kollam, who was a permanent resident of Mumbai. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other ministers will receive the bodies in Kochi. The state government has arranged ambulances to transport the bodies to their respective homes immediately upon arrival.
The aircraft will first land in Kochi as most of the deceased Indians are from Kerala, before proceeding to Delhi for the victims from northern states.Kuwaiti authorities have already conducted DNA tests on the bodies as part of the identification process. The Kuwaiti Fire Force attributed the deadly fire to an "electrical circuit" malfunction, according to a press statement reported by the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA.
Following a late-night meeting on Wednesday with Prime Minister Modi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, and Principal Secretary to the PM PK Mishra, the prime minister announced ex-gratia relief of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased Indian nationals from the PM Relief Fund and directed all possible assistance.