65-year-old, who died in Kuwait fire, was to return home for good in a week

Chennai: 65-year-old Karupannan Ramu was to return home for good in a week’s time after working in a supermarket in Mangaf in Kuwait for over 25 years but caught in the devastating fire in a building on Wednesday and died of suffocation. Ramu, hailing from Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu, is among the seven persons who died in the fire accident in which a majority of the victims are Indians.

“My father was in Kuwait for the past 25 years and he was to come back to India next week. All formalities with his employer were completed and he was just waiting for a financial settlement to be made to him. We were eagerly waiting for him to come home. But we can’t digest the fact that he is no more,” Saravanakumar, Ramu’s son, said, with tears rolling down his cheeks.

The son said his father was inside the labour housing facility when fire swept through the campus and died of suffocation. “He didn’t suffer any burn injuries, but he was suffocated due to the fire that engulfed the building. He died of breathlessness while on the way to hospital. That’s what we heard,” Saravanakumar said.

He said the government should ensure that the body of his father and others are brought back to India as early as possible. While the Ministry of External Affairs hasn’t confirmed yet about Ramu’s death, Saravanakumar said his family was informed of his father’s death by his colleagues and the local Tamil Sangam.

Kunaf Richard Rai from Peravurani in Thanjavur district was working in Kuwait as a quality control specialist and is believed to have died in the fire. “We were told by his friends that my brother has escaped from the building, and he must be safe. But we are now given to understand that he is no more, and we are still in shock,” his brother said.