Kuwait building fire: Authorities were alerted 1.5 hrs after blaze broke out; Deputy PM slams 'greedy real estate owner'

Kuwait building fire news: At least 49 people, including mostly Indians, have been killed in a devastating fire in a building housing labourers in Kuwait City, officials said on Wednesday. Kuwait's Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Saud Al-Sabah has blamed the "greedy real restate owner" for the unfortunate accident.

Here is what we know so far: 

• Media reports suggest that the blaze first broke out in a kitchen on a lower-floor apartment at about 4:30 am (local time). As it engulfed the apartment, people were left trapped there.
• But what is shocking is that the local authorities were not informed till 6 am.

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• The building housed over 160 workers of the same company, according to the Kuwait Times.
• According to a Reuters report, citing a government agency for Keralites living outside the state said it had been told by the Indian community in Kuwait that 41 Indians, including 11 from Kerala, had died in the fire.

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• The building is reportedly owned by Malayali businessman KG Abraham's NBTC Group. It housed workers from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and northern India.
• According to the Onmanorama report, several individuals remained trapped in the building even after the blaze was doused.
• Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousuf Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s Interior Minister, has blamed the "greed of real estate owners" for the fire incident. "Unfortunately, the greed of real estate owners is what leads to these matters," he said.

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• "I have ordered immediate action to address similar violations where a large number of workers are crammed into one residential building,” Al-Sabah added.
• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed “deep shock” over the incident and said the Indian embassy in the Gulf nation will render the "fullest assistance" to all concerned.
• "Deeply shocked by the news of the fire incident in Kuwait city. There are reportedly over 40 deaths and over 50 have been hospitalized. Our Ambassador has gone to the camp. We are awaiting further information," Jaishankar said on X.