Probe Underway, Says Maldives Foreign Minister After Male Fire Which Killed 9 Indians

<p><strong>New Delhi:&nbsp;</strong>Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid on Thursday expressed grief over the fire incident in the capital city of Male which caused the loss of ten lives including reportedly of Indian nationals.</p> <p>"Deeply saddened by the news of a tragic fire in Male&rsquo;, that has taken the lives of 10 expatriate workers and affected several families.&nbsp;Our thoughts and prayers are with families of the deceased and affected.&nbsp;&nbsp;A full investigation is underway," he wrote on Twitter.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Deeply saddened by the news of a tragic fire in Male&rsquo;, that has taken the lives of 10 expatriate workers and affected several families. <br /><br />Our thoughts and prayers are with families of the deceased and affected. <br /><br />A full investigation is underway.</p> &mdash; Abdulla Shahid (@abdulla_shahid) <a href="https://twitter.com/abdulla_shahid/status/1590615127946334210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <p> <script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> </p> <p>A fire swept through cramped lodgings of foreign workers in the Maldives capital Male leading to 10 deaths and injuring several others, news agency AFP reported citing the fire service.</p> <p>In the fire, 9 Indians were reportedly killed as officials said they recovered 10 bodies from the upper floor of a building destroyed in the fire.</p> <p>The fire is said to have originated from a ground-floor vehicle repair garage.</p> <p>"We have found 10 bodies," a fire service official said, adding that it took them about four hours to put out the fire, AFP reported. The report cited a security official as confirming that the dead included nine Indians and a Bangladesh national.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>ALSO READ |<span style="color: #e03e2d;"><a style="color: #e03e2d;" href="https://ift.tt/YAjHXeG"> $5 Trillion Economy By FY27? How Feasible It Is, What Will Drive This And What Stands In The Way</a></span></strong></p> <p>According to news portal SunOnline international, the fire broke out in M. Nirufehi area near the Maaveyo Mosque around 12:30 am,&nbsp;</p> <p>The garage is located on the ground floor, while the first floor houses migrant workers.</p> <p>The quarters had only ventilation &ndash; a single window, the report mentioned.</p> <p>The Maldives National Defence Force Fire and Rescue Service informed that 28 people were evacuated from the building, while nine people were reported missing.</p> <p>Seven of them were found dead, while two were taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital with severe burns, the report stated.</p> <p>Firefighters later recovered two more bodies from the building.</p> <p>The fire was doused at 04:34 am, the report added.</p> <p>Foreign workers are said to make up about half of Male's 250,000-strong population, mostly belonging to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.</p> <p>The High Commission of India in Maldives expressed grief and informed that it is in close contact with the Maldivian authorities.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">We are deeply saddened by the tragic fire incident in Mal&eacute; which has caused loss of lives, including reportedly of Indian nationals. <br /><br />We are in close contact with the Maldivian authorities. <br /><br />For any assistance, HCI can be reached on following numbers: <br />+9607361452 ; +9607790701</p> &mdash; India in Maldives (@HCIMaldives) <a href="https://twitter.com/HCIMaldives/status/1590573255592923136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <p> <script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> </p> <p>According to AFP's report, the foreign workers' poor living conditions were brought to light during the <a title="COVID-19" href="https://ift.tt/YBWCKdQ" data-type="interlinkingkeywords">COVID-19</a> pandemic when the infection spread three times faster in them as compared with locals. Maldivian political parties have criticised conditions the same.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>ALSO READ |<span style="color: #e03e2d;"> <a style="color: #e03e2d;" title="" href="https://ift.tt/LlxfImu" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-toggle="tooltip" data-html="true" data-original-title="Story ID: 1562502" aria-describedby="tooltip427183">G20 Summit 2022: Russian President Vladimir Putin To Skip World Leaders' Meet In Bali</a></span></strong></p>