3 Filipinos dead in Kuwait fire —DMW

Three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) perished in a fire that gutted a building in Kuwait Wednesday morning, according to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).

The three died from smoke inhalation, DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said.

GMA Integrated News' JP Soriano also reported the death in a post on X (Twitter).
 

JUST IN: Sad news - DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac confirms that 3 Filipinos have died from the fire that broke out in Kuwait. @gmanews

— JP Soriano (@jpsoriano) June 13, 2024

The victims were part of a group of 11 OFWs, all working for the same Kuwaiti construction company housed in the building that caught fire.

The department said two other OFWs remain in critical condition in a hospital, while the remaining six are "safe and unharmed."

“The unfortunate news is that three were identified as fatalities in a hospital in Kuwait. What we do know is [that] because the fire happened in the wee hours of the morning, the victims suffered from severe smoke inhalations, so they don’t have burns in their bodies, but they inhaled a tremendous amount of smoke,” said Cacdac in a ''24 Oras'' report by Soriano on Thursday.

Philippine officials led by Cacdac and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) administrator Arnell Ignacio are contacting all families and relatives of the 11 affected OFWs.

Cacdac also instructed OWWA and the Migrant Workers Office in Kuwait to coordinate their efforts with the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait under Ambassador Jose Cabrera to repatriate the three workers' remains.

“We are in touch with the families of all the affected OFWs, including the families of those two in critical condition and the families of the three fatalities. Six of them are now safe and provided with their immediate needs," Cacdac said.

"We will provide all the necessary assistance and support to the OFWs and their families in this difficult time as directed by the President,” he added.

The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing, but Kuwait's deputy prime minister, Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Saud Al-Sabah, said real estate owners committed violations.

“There could be a legal aspect to this case [and] to this matter, so we have given instructions to our lawyers to cooperate and coordinate with the Kuwaiti authorities,” said Cacdac.

According to Kuwait authorities, the fire started at about 4:30 a.m. on June 12 in the building serving as a housing and dormitory facility for foreign workers employed by the Kuwaiti construction company. The building is in al-Mangaf, a coastal city south of Kuwait City.

At least 49 people were killed in the fire, while scores were injured, the Kuwait Interior Ministry earlier reported. —LDF/VBL, GMA Integrated News