Seven Bangladeshis killed in Saudi Arabia fire

Seven citizens of Bangladesh were killed in a fire at a furniture factory in Al Hofuf City of Saudi Arabia on Friday afternoon (Saudi Arabia local time).

Bangladesh-based news outlets said the fire broke out at the factory in the commercial area, 350 kilometres away from Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, at 4:00 pm on Friday. Firefighting authorities sent rescue teams after getting the information.

Nine people, including seven Bangladeshi nationals, were killed in the fire incident. A news portal identified deceased Bangladeshis as Arif Mohammad Shahadat, Barek Sarder, Md Shakil Pramanik, Saiful Islam, Ruman Pramanik, Md Firoz Sardar Ali and Md Rob Hossain.

News portals said three of the deceased expatriates hailed from Natore and one hailed from Rajshahi. The addresses of three others were not found so far.

Several workers were trapped inside the factory after the fire. Firefighters rescued the trapped workers and sent injured people to hospital.

Among them, two people are undergoing treatment in hospital with serious burn injuries.

The dead bodies were kept at the morgue of King Fahad Hospital. The reason behind the fire incident was not identified.

Bangladesh Ambassador in Saudi Arabia, Mohammad Javed Patwary, expressed shock at the deaths of Bangladeshi citizens. A local news portal says the labour welfare wing of the Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh is looking into the incident and its victims.