Ten Bangladeshis along with three other foreign workers were killed when a fire swept through a three-storey labour camp in the Bahraini capital Manama on Friday.
Counselor and Head of Chancery of Bangladesh Embassy in Manama Mehdi Hasan confirmed the death of 10 Bangladeshi workers. Of them, four hailed from Brahmanbaria, three from Chittagong, two from Chandpur and one from Noakhali districts.
Out of the 10, four brothers came from two families in Brahmanbaria and Chandpur districts.
The deceased were identified as: Sapan and his brother Saiful Islam (Sabuj), sons of late Shahid Miah of village Kaitala in Nabinagar upazila of Brahmanbaria, Shahadat and his brother Titu Miah, sons of Alam of village Nawpura in Kachua upazila in Chandpur.
Two others from Nabinagar in Brahmanbaria are Jasem, son of Naser Miah of village Goali, and Mohammed Anowar, son of Abul Bashar of village Gurigram.
Three of the deceased were named as Nazir Ahmed, Mahbub Alam and Jamal of Patia upazila in Chittagong.
The tenth was identified as Md Osman Gani, son of Abdur Rahim of Sonaimuri upazila in Noakhali.
Two more Bangladeshi workers also sustained injuries in the fire, said Shameem Ahsan, director general (External Publicity Wing) of the foreign ministry, quoting Bangladesh mission in Bahrain.
The unlicensed building had 26 rooms occupied mostly by “free visa” workers from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, Bahrain-based newspaper Gulf Daily News reports.
“The majority were Bangladeshis and seven to 10 people lived in each room,” it added
“In that building there are 28 rooms, of which there are three rooms occupied by Pakistani nationals and the rest occupied by Bangladeshis,” one resident of the building told Reuters.
A fireman was injured when the roof of the building collapsed during the blaze.
The victims of the blaze, in the Mukharqa neighbourhood, are yet to be identified, said an Interior Ministry official last night.
The bodies have been transferred to the Salmaniya Medical Complex mortuary while the injured are undergoing treatment at the hospital.
The Civil Defence acting director-general said fire brigades rushed to the Mukharqa neighbourhood after the blaze was reported at 3:44pm (Bahrain time) and reached the site at 3:50pm.
Several tenants were rescued from the burning building and the blaze was brought under control before it spread to nearby buildings.
“We are still awaiting identification of the bodies which were recovered by Civil Defence personnel from the debris,” the acting director-general said.
Capital Governorate Chief Prosecutor Fahd Al Buainain last night visited the site and ordered a probe into the blaze.
Officials said three Pakistanis suffered burns and were transferred to SMC.
“Mohammed Akram, 40, suffered burns to his hands and left leg, Saeed Ahmed, 38, suffered second-degree burns to his face, legs and hands, and Mohammed Aslam suffered minor burns to his hands and legs.”
Thick smoke reached the sky and was visible from a distance.
Panic
“Initially we thought it was a minor fire but after sometime we saw thick smoke coming out of the building and neighbours panicked,” said an eye-witness.
“Some called the Civil Defence and several fire brigades and ambulances arrived at the scene.
“They entered the building although there was a lot of smoke and flames were rising from the structure.
“It spread so fast that the whole building went down in minutes,” he said.
“Police cordoned off the area. Firemen brought the bodies out one by one and I saw 13 bodies. They were still working at the site at 10pm when we left,” he added.
Sources said the roof of the building collapsed in the fire and the structure could be razed because it is not safe.
The Pakistan Embassy last night called on the community to help identify the victims.
This is the second deadliest fire involving labour camps in Bahrain. A fire in a Gudaibiya labour camp killed 16 workers in 2006. Another blaze in East Riffa killed 10 last year.
BBC reports: According to the 2010 census, there are more than 660,000 foreign nationals living in Bahrain – the vast majority of whom are described as Asian – out of a total population of 1.23m.
Source: The Daily Star
