Six Bangladeshis among seven killed in Saudi Arabia fire

Six Bangladeshis are among at least seven killed in a fire at a residential building occupied by expatriate workers in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.

Md Shofi Ullah, Saudi Arabia Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 13 April 2018, 05:32 PM
Updated : 13 April 2018, 07:00 PM

The Bangladesh Embassy there has confirmed the Bangladeshi casualties.

Labour Counsellor Sarwar Alam told bdnews24.com the fire started at the building in Al Nourah University’s residential area around 7am local time on Friday.

The victims were taken to King Saud Medical City, Shafiqul Islam, an undersecretary at the embassy, told bdnews24.com.

He said the deceased Bangladeshis were ‘Robin’, 22, from Narsinghdi, ‘Himel’, 28, from Gazipur, ‘Mazid’, 50, from Narayanganj, ‘Iqbal’, 34, from Kishoreganj, ‘Zubayer’, 45, from Sylhet, and ‘Soleman’ from Dhaka.       

But a colleague of the victims said all seven Bangladeshis living in a room were killed in the fire.

Md Alamin said the fire broke out when a gas cylinder exploded in the room on the first floor of the three-storey building.

Photo: Saudi civil defence department via Twitter.

The fire broke out in the building at Al-Tuwaiq neighbourhood, injuring eight others, GDN Online news portal reported.

There were 45 labourers in the camp when the blaze broke out at the entrance of the building before spreading to their accommodation, the GDN Online said, citing Riyadh Civil Defence spokesperson Major Mohammed Al-Hammadi.

Photo: Saudi civil defence department via Twitter.

The Saudi department of civil defence twitted some photos of the scene and said the number of occupants was higher than the capacity.

Most of the deceased were in a room with only one exit in the middle of the building, it added.