2 Bangladeshis among 11 killed in Maldives fire

At least 11 people including two Bangladeshis were killed while several others sustained injuries on Thursday when a fire swept through cramped lodgings of foreign workers in the Maldives capital Male, the fire service said.

The capital of the archipelago best known as an upmarket holiday destination is one of the world’s most densely populated cities.

Officials said 11 bodies were recovered from the upper floor of a building destroyed in the fire, which originated from a ground-floor vehicle repair garage.

“We have found 11 bodies,” a fire service official said, adding that it took them about four hours to put out the fire.

A security official said the dead included nine Indians and two Bangladeshis.

Maldivian political parties have criticised conditions for foreign workers.

They are thought to make up about half of Male’s 250,000-strong population and are mostly from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Their poor living conditions were brought to light during the Covid-19 pandemic when the infection spread three times faster among foreign workers compared with locals.

Meanwhile, Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid has expressed sympathy to Bangladesh over the death of two Bangladeshis in a tragic fire in Male.

In a telephone conversation with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday, Maldives Minister Shahid said it seems to be an accident and a full investigation into the matter is underway.

Momen requested his Maldives counterpart to ensure identities of the victims in detail. He also sought salvation of the departed souls and conveyed sympathy to the bereaved family members.

In a separate message, the Maldives Foreign Minister said he is deeply saddened by the news of a tragic fire in Male that has taken the lives of 11 expatriate workers and affected several families.