Kuwait fire tragedy: Victims' bodies arrive in Odisha, Jharkhand, UP, Bengal

The mortal remains of those killed in a devastating fire in Kuwait were brought back to their native homes in Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal on Saturday morning.

The body of Dwarikesh Pattanayak (52) was received by his family at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata in the presence of state fire minister Sujit Bose. From there, his body was taken to his home in Paschim Medinipur district.

"The mortal remains of Pattanayak were received at the airport and taken to his ancestral home where his family will perform the last rites," Bose said.

A pall of gloom descended on Turka Garh village, where hundreds of people waited for a last glimpse of Pattanayak, who had left his home for Kuwait at the age of 19 and was working as a mechanical supervisor in the Gulf nation.

On Saturday morning, the mortal remains of two persons from Odisha who died in the Kuwait fire incident arrived in Bhubaneswar. Deputy chief ministers K.V. Singh Deo and Pravati Parida received the bodies of Muhammad Jahur and Santosh Kumar Gouda at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar and paid floral tributes.

The bodies were later taken to their native villages where their family members would perform the last rites.

Expressing condolences to the bereaved families, Singh Deo said chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi has announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased.

Gloom also descended on the Hindpiri area of Jharkhand's capital Ranchi as the mortal remains of Md Ali Hussain were brought to his residence on Saturday morning, an official said. Hussain's body was brought to Ranchi on a regular flight from Delhi and taken to his residence at around 10.15 am, he said.

Ranchi deputy commissioner Rahul Kumar Sinha was present at the Birsa Munda Airport when Ali's body arrived. Ali, 24, the youngest of three siblings, went to Kuwait around 20 days ago, his father Mubarak Hussain (57) said.

Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren also expressed grief over the demise of Ali in the Kuwait fire tragedy. In a post on X on Friday, Soren said, "I pray to God to give strength to the bereaved family to bear this sorrow."

In Gorakhpur, an emotionally-broken Rita Gupta, while holding the photograph of her husband Angad who died in the Kuwait fire incident, is waiting for his body to arrive in the city, as other relatives mourn the tragedy.

Angad Gupta (46), a resident of Jatepur North; and Jayaram Gupta (40) from Bhammour village, both from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, are among the 45 Indians who lost their lives in the Kuwait fire. Rita had a conversation with Angad on Tuesday, barely a day before the tragedy struck the Gupta family.

Recounting her last conversation with Angad, Rita said as the news of a fire in Kuwait spread across the globe on Wednesday, she became anxious and attempted to contact her husband, but his phone was unreachable.

Angad had started a new job at a different mall just 15 days ago. He had told his family that he had signed a one-year agreement, which meant that he would have returned home only after a year. He had visited home seven months ago in November.

At least 45 Indians died in the massive fire that broke out in a labour accommodation in Kuwait's Mangaf on 12 June. This includes 23 from Kerala, seven from Tamil Nadu, three from Andhra Pradesh, and others from Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Punjab and West Bengal.

With PTI inputs