49 Killed in Fire at Kuwait Building Housing Workers

“In a building like this, you’re supposed to go up to the roof, but unfortunately the door to the roof was locked," said Sayed Hassan Al-Moussawi.

Ramesh, an Indian worker who lives in a building next door and who also asked to be identified only by his first name for fear of retribution, said in an interview that he saw people trying to jump out of windows to escape.

The fire’s high death toll highlighted the perils faced by low-income immigrants to Gulf countries, who often toil under exploitative contracts and live in overcrowded housing, with regulatory protections that are limited or poorly enforced.

Foreigners make up about two-thirds of the population of Kuwait, an oil-rich nation with one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.

Many are low-paid workers from South Asian countries who perform jobs including construction, restaurant service and street cleaning.

More than 50 people hurt during the fire were sent to hospitals around Kuwait, with injuries including burns, broken bones from jumping out of the building and carbon monoxide poisoning from smoke inhalation, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. Nine were in critical condition, it said.

Many of the workers affected were from India, the country’s embassy in Kuwait said on social media.

On Wednesday, India’s ambassador to Kuwait, Adarsh Swaika, visited several hospitals where workers were taken, the embassy said in its posts.