Representative image showing a building on fire.
Credit: iStock Photo
Dubai/Kuwait City: In a tragic incident, an Indian couple and their two children were killed in a fire that broke out in their flat in Kuwait City, local authorities said on Saturday.
The tragedy happened on Friday night, the same day they returned from Kerala after vacation.
Mathews Mulackal, his wife Lini Abraham, and their two children, all hailing from Neerattupuram in Alappuzha, suffocated to death on Friday night due to the fire caused by a short circuit in the air conditioner at around 8 pm in their second-floor flat in Abbasiya area, The Arab Times newspaper reported.
“The family had returned to Kuwait from a vacation in Kerala, arriving around 4 pm local time on Friday. Mathews Mulackal worked at Reuters, while his wife Lini was a staff nurse at Adan Hospital in Al Ahmadi Governorate. Their children attended Bhavans School in Kuwait,” the newspaper said.
"Mathew has been working there for the past 15 years. They left for Kuwait after their vacation on Thursday night from Nedumbassery Airport," a relative told the media in Kerala on Saturday.
The Indian Embassy in Kuwait said it is in touch with the family in Kerala and will ensure the early repatriation of the mortal remains of the four Indians.
The accident comes close on the heels of a devastating fire accident that claimed the lives of 45 Indians in a labour accommodation last month.
The news report said Major General Khaled Fahd, the acting head of the General Fire Force, was present at the fire scene and quoted the General Fire Force announcement on their X platform that their teams had successfully controlled the blaze in an apartment building.
Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Kuwait said in a post on X: “Embassy @indembkwt expresses its deepest condolences on the tragic demise of Mr Mathews Mulackal, his wife and 2 children due to fire in his flat in Abassiya yesterday night. Embassy is in touch with his family and will ensure early repatriation of mortal remains."