Six Bangladeshi workers killed, another injured in Saudi fire

A fire in the Saudi Arabian city of Ha’il has left at least six expatriate Bangladeshi workers dead and another ‘critically’ injured in a grim repeat of a similar incident that killed seven only five days ago.

Second Secretary (Press) Fakhrul Islam at the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh told bdnews24.com the fire devastated a residential building of expatriate workers in Holaifa area early Wednesday morning local time.

The six deceased.

The dead include two brothers from Cumilla’s Chauddagram - Emranul Haque Sohel, 34, and Imamul Haque Munna, 22. Deceased Md Sohel, 30, is also from the same Upazila.

Two brothers - Jasim Uddin, 26, and Md Ibrahim, 23, - from Lakshmipur’s Kamalnagar are also among the casualties.

The other Bangladeshi killed in the fire is Mohiuddin Rashed, 35, from Feni’s Birinchi.

Labour Counsellor Sarwar Alam at the embassy said they were certain these six Bangladeshis died in the incident, but could not identify the bodies as those were badly charred.

He said DNA tests would be needed to identify the remains.

The injured Bangladeshi could not be identified immediately.

The room where the victims lived.

Aziz Ullah Selim, an expatriate Bangladeshi in Ha’il, told bdnews24.com the injured victim was admitted to a hospital in the city in ‘critical’ condition.

Selim said he heard the fire had originated from a carelessly thrown cigarette butt.

“They (seven victims) went to bed after having a meal on Tuesday night. Someone threw the cigarette butt in the veranda and an electric wire caught fire from it. The flames spread to the room,” he said.

In capital Riyadh, on Apr 13, at least seven people, including six Bangladeshis, were killed and eight others injured when a gas cylinder exploded prompting a fire in a room of a building occupied by expatriate workers.