IAF aircraft brings back mortal remains of 45 Indian victims from Kuwait fire

Kuwait fire tragedy: A special IAF aircraft carrying mortal remains of 45 Indian victims who died in the massive fire in Kuwait reached Kerala's Cochin International airport on June 14. The IAF had sent a C-130J transport aircraft to Kuwait on Thursday night to bring back the bodies.

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Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh, who coordinated with Kuwaiti authorities for swift repatriation of the bodies, is onboard the aircraft. From Kochi, the aircraft will leave for Delhi as some of the Indians killed in the fire hailed from a few north and eastern Indian states, as reported by PTI.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, state BJP President K Surendran, Congress leader VD Satheesan, Union Minister Suresh Gopi also arrived at Cochin International Airport.

Out of the 45 Indians killed in the fire incident, 23 were from Kerala, seven from Tamil Nadu, three each from Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, two from Odisha and one each from Bihar, Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Haryana, according to the embassy.

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Union Minister Suresh Gopi who reached the airport called the tragedy ‘voluminous and impactful’. He said, “it is a thud on the 'pravaasi' community, which helped the economic situation in Kerala... The state and the country have very high regard for the 'pravaasi' community and it is very painful. The individual loss is of every home which has been implicated by this tragedy... India will play its role very well because we have initiated action as soon as the news was received. The GoI will take appropriate actions and decisions and make very appropriate deliverances... A flock of Malayalis and Indians will get into the fray of the resurgence of some families... We have our contingent working to look after people in all health conditions.”

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Calling it an unfortunate incident, Kerala BJP President K Surendran said, "It is a very unfortunate incident but the Central government and the MEA have taken up the issue very seriously and the procedures were carried out quickly in Kuwait and the bodies are coming today... All procedures were completed by yesterday evening itself... We will visit the houses of all deceased and offer our condolences to the families..."