By Agencies
MALDIVES: Eight Indians were among 10 people who were confirmed dead early on Thursday, when a fire broke out in the garage below a cramped living quarters that housed foreign workers here in the Maldivian capital, an Indian High Commission official said.
The fire broke out in the M.Nirufehi area near the Maaveyo Mosque around 12:30 am, according to news portal SunOnline international.
Male, the capital of the archipelago best known as an upmarket holiday destination is one of the world’s most densely populated cities.
Officials said 10 bodies were recovered from the upper floor of a building destroyed in the fire, which originated from a ground-floor vehicle repair garage. It took four hours to douse the fire.
Firefighters try to douse a fire that broke out in a building lodging foreign workers in Maldives capital Male on November 10, 2022. (Photo | AFP)
The garage is located on the ground floor, while the first-floor housed migrant workers. The living quarters had only a single window, the report said.
The Maldives National Defence Force Fire and Rescue Service said 28 people were evacuated from the building, the report said. Seven of them were found dead, while two were taken to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital with severe burns, it said.
The fire was doused at 04:34 am, it added.
Two fires were reported at the garage, the last of which took place two months back, the report added.
#Breaking 10 dead in a fire that broke out in Male in a cramped immigration quarter. Indians too lived there @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard
— Yeshi Seli ਯੇਸ਼ੀ ਸੇਲੀ (@YeshiSeli) November 10, 2022
Foreign workers constitute about half of Male’s 250,000-strong population, who are mostly from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Maldivian political parties have criticised conditions for foreign workers.
Their poor living conditions were brought to light during the Covid-19 pandemic when the infection spread three times faster among foreign workers compared with locals.
WATCH:
(With PTI and ANI inputs)
MALDIVES: Eight Indians were among 10 people who were confirmed dead early on Thursday, when a fire broke out in the garage below a cramped living quarters that housed foreign workers here in the Maldivian capital, an Indian High Commission official said.
The fire broke out in the M.Nirufehi area near the Maaveyo Mosque around 12:30 am, according to news portal SunOnline international.
Male, the capital of the archipelago best known as an upmarket holiday destination is one of the world’s most densely populated cities.
Officials said 10 bodies were recovered from the upper floor of a building destroyed in the fire, which originated from a ground-floor vehicle repair garage. It took four hours to douse the fire.
Firefighters try to douse a fire that broke out in a building lodging foreign workers in Maldives capital Male on November 10, 2022. (Photo | AFP)
The garage is located on the ground floor, while the first-floor housed migrant workers. The living quarters had only a single window, the report said.
The Maldives National Defence Force Fire and Rescue Service said 28 people were evacuated from the building, the report said. Seven of them were found dead, while two were taken to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital with severe burns, it said.
The fire was doused at 04:34 am, it added.
Two fires were reported at the garage, the last of which took place two months back, the report added.
#Breaking 10 dead in a fire that broke out in Male in a cramped immigration quarter. Indians too lived there @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard
— Yeshi Seli ਯੇਸ਼ੀ ਸੇਲੀ (@YeshiSeli) November 10, 2022
Foreign workers constitute about half of Male’s 250,000-strong population, who are mostly from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Maldivian political parties have criticised conditions for foreign workers.
Their poor living conditions were brought to light during the Covid-19 pandemic when the infection spread three times faster among foreign workers compared with locals.
WATCH:
(With PTI and ANI inputs)
