MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh thanks Kuwait authorities for early repatriation of bodies of fire tragedy victims

Ernakulam (Kerala) [India], June 14 : Union Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh thanked the authorities in Kuwait for expediting the repatriation of the bodies of Indians killed in the fire tragedy in the Gulf nation on June 12.
The Union Minister offered condolences to the families of the deceased.
"It is a very tragic incident and we are all very sad about it. The moment our Govt got to know that this incident had taken place, PM Modi immediately convened a meeting and instructed us to reach Kuwait immediately and take all possible steps so that the mortal remains could be brought back as soon as possible," Kirti Vardhan Singh said.
He said that when the Indian team of officials reached Kuwait, PM Modi had already spoken to the authorities and the foreign minister there and to the Emir of Kuwait.
"I would like to thank to the authorities as they did everything possible, they took all possible measures and fully cooperated in having all the papers completed, identification was done in such a short time because normally this could have taken a week or at least ten days. On PM Modi's instructions, the authorities were very quick about it," he added.
At least 45 Indians were killed in the fire incident, and 31 bodies of victims from Kerala (23), Tamil Nadu (7), and Karnataka (1) were brought via a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force to Kerala's Kochi on Friday.
The special IAF aircraft landed at around 10.30 am at Cochin International Airport earlier in the day.
Earlier, speaking to reporters at the airport, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan acknowledged the efforts on the part of the governments of India and Kuwait in their intervention following the fire tragedy.
"It is a never-ending loss for the families... The Government of Kuwait has taken effective and impeccable measures. It is expected that the follow-up will be flawless. When it came to know about the disaster, the Government of India also intervened in a proper manner in the case of those who died in the Kuwait disaster."
It is expected that the Kuwaiti government will provide adequate compensation to the families of the deceased. The central government should also intervene effectively, he said.
At least 45 Indians died in the huge fire that broke out in a labour accommodation in Kuwait's Mangaf on June 12. This includes 23 from Kerala, seven from Tamil Nadu, three from Andhra Pradesh, and one each from Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Punjab and West Bengal.