NBTC, whose workers died in the fire in one of its accommodations there, also announced ₹8 lakh as immediate relief to each of the families of the deceased.
The building where the fire accident occurred. (X)
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday, 14 June, announced an ex-gratia of ₹5 lakh each to the families of three persons from the state who died in the recent Kuwait fire incident.
T Lokanadam from Sompeta in Srikakulam district and M Satyanarayana and M Eswarudu from Peravali in East Godavari district died in the incident.
“Naidu is monitoring this matter closely and instructed relevant departments to coordinate and ensure the smooth transportation of the mortal remains of the deceased (persons) to their native places,” said an official press release.
Satyanarayana and Eswarudu were mistaken to be from West Godavari district earlier but they belong to East Godavari district.
According to the Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society (APNRTS), which is the nodal agency for matters related to NRIs and migrant workers, the mortal remains of the three deceased persons would be sent to Visakhapatnam Airport on the morning of Saturday, 15 June, from New Delhi Airport.
Thereafter, they would be taken to their respective hometowns in Srikakulam and East Godavari districts.
Till recently, Lokanandam had been home in his village of Sompeta in Srikakulam district, having come from Kuwait for the elections and other engagements.
But he died the same day he returned to Kuwait, a relative said.
A pall of gloom descended on Sompeta village on Friday as relatives and acquaintances thronged the house of Lokanandam after they came to know of his death.
“As part of his return journey (to Kuwait), Lokanandam had gone to Hyderabad on June 5, stayed there for four days and then reached Kuwait on June 11,” Lokanadam’s brother-in-law Santha Rao said.
Lokanandam was the lone breadwinner of his family, and people from Sompeta have also reached out to Union Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu for help in bringing back his body.
The construction group, Kuwait-based NBTC, whose workers died in the fire in one of its accommodations there, also announced ₹eight lakh as immediate relief to each of the families of the deceased.
In a statement, the company said it will continue to keep the families of the deceased as “part of the NBTC family”.
“As a measure of immediate relief we have sanctioned INR 8 lakh to the families of each of the victims and ₹2 lakh to the families of those who are injured,” the company said in a statement posted on its LinkedIn profile.
NBTC said it was greatly “shocked and saddened by the tragic incident” in one of its residential accommodations at Mangaf in Kuwait.
The employees of the company were living in the building in Kuwait that caught fire killing 49 people on 12 June.
Keralite KG Abraham, a prominent businessman from Niranam in Pathanamthitta district is a partner and managing director of the NBTC group.
According to the Central Travancore Chamber of Commerce and Industry website, NBTC is the biggest construction group in Kuwait.
“KG Abraham is a partner and managing director of NBTC group, which is the biggest construction group in Kuwait which has gained a reputation for quality and reliability and the success story, is being carried forward to the neighbouring Middle East countries as well,” the website read. It also said that he is the chairman of Crowne Plaza, Kochi which is a five-star category hotel.
He is the founder and chairman of KGA Group which owns the prominent five-star property in Kochi among other establishments.
Abraham is also into movie production and recently co-produced a Malayalam survival drama ‘Adujeevitham’ (Goat Life) which narrates the life of an Indian migrant worker in a Gulf nation.
Established in 1977, NBTC is into engineering and construction, fabrication and machining, technical services, heavy equipment leasing, logistics, hotel, and retailing.
Apart from the company’s assistance, the Kerala government had announced an amount of Rs five lakh each to the families of the deceased persons from te state.
The Central government has also announced a financial assistance of Rs two lakh to the families of the deceased.
Prominent business houses have also announced financial assistance to the families.
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
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