At least 10 people, including nine Bangladeshi workers and one Indian, were killed in a fire that broke out in a sofa factory in the Hofuf industrial city area in Al-Ahsa of Saudi Arabia on Friday.
A total of 14 Bangladeshi workers worked at the factory in Al-Ahsa city which is situated 350km east of the capital city of Riyadh, according to a press release of the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh on Saturday.
Embassy officials including Counsellor (Labour Welfare Wing) Muhammad Reza-E-Rabbi rushed to the spot and visited the King Fahad Hospital morgue in Hofuf and the civil defence office and provided necessary assistance.
The deceased are Md Rubel Hossain (passport no BC 0237055), son of Jafir Uddin of Baruipara under Bagmara upazila in Rajshahi, Mohammad Ubaidul (iqama no 2384197899), son of Md Dabir Uddin, of Khajura Chandpur in Janardhan Bati under Naldanga upazila in Natore, Ramjan (iqama no 2472470588), son of Isaac Pramanik, of Jhanjhania, Shahgula under Atrai upazila in Naogaon, Mohammad Sajedul Islam (passport no AE6326841), son of Zamir of Baruipara under Bagmara upazila in Rajshahi, Arif (iqama no 2535176339), son of Md Shahadat Hossain, of Baruipara under Bagmara upazila in Rajshahi, Barek Sardar (iqama no 2247439850), son of Rahman Sardar, of Udaypur, Bhanga Jangal under Atrai upazila in Naogaon, Md Zubayet Dhali (passport no BW 0673407), son of Yunus Dhali, of Shastan, Fasiatula under Kalkini upazila in Madaripur, Saiful Islam (iqama no 2529922326), son of late Alauddin, of Hemayetpur-Baliarpur in Nagarkunda, Savar, Dhaka, and Md Firuz Ali Sardar (passport no EE 0581274), son of Md Anisur Rahman Sardar, of Bara Madhaimuri, Katila, under Bagmara in Rajshahi.
Bangladeshi workers Biplab Hossain and Md Jewel Hossain, who survived the fire, informed the Bangladesh mission officials that during the fire incident, they along with other workers were sleeping on their floor above the factory after offering Jummah prayers.
Hearing screaming of the people, they came out from the factory through stairways but other fellow workers could not do so. Three of the 14 Bangladeshi workers were not inside the factory during the incident, they said.
Bangladesh Ambassador in Riyadh Mohammad Javed Patwary expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of the Bangladeshi workers in the fatal incident and conveyed profound sympathy to bereaved family members.
He asked the Labour Welfare Wing to take required measures to send the bodies quickly to Bangladesh or for burial in the locality.
The Labour Welfare Wing is monitoring the incident intensively.
