A gas cylinder was next to each bed of around 38 foreign workers in the cramped living quarters above an automobile garage in Male in the Maldivian capital where a massive fire broke out on Thursday, a ghastly accident which killed at least 10 people, including eight Indians.
The fire broke out in the car repair garage in M Nirufehi, located near the Maaveyo Mosque, around 12:30 am.
The garage was located on the ground floor, while the first-floor housed cramped living quarters for migrant workers with only ventilation -- a single window.
The quarters housed migrant workers from Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. The building was a three-storey structure erected on wooden decks on each of the floors. The building houses expatriates according to neighbours.
Maldives National Disaster Authority officials said there were gas cylinders placed next to the beds inside the migrant quarters, according to news portal SunOnline International.
"The fire had already spread extensively when we arrived at the scene. The first priority of our firefighters was to control the fire and prevent it from spreading any further,” said Colonel Ibrahim Rasheed, commandant, MNDF fire and rescue service.
Ibrahim said firefighters had to work hard to prevent the fire from spreading to neighbouring residences.
“There were a lot of gas cylinders here. Different types of gas. The garage was located on the ground floor. We therefore found it very challenging to fight the fire,” he said.
The neighbouring house sustained significant damages to its structure, including damages to its windows, during Thursday morning's fire.
Ibrahim said the people evacuated from the building initially reported nine people as missing.
“We began search and rescue operations as soon as the fire was controlled. We have found 10 bodies so far,” he said.
Ibrahim said the dead bodies recovered from the scene were severely burnt, making it difficult to identify them or even determine their sex.
Authorities have confirmed 10 people have died in the fire incident.
Ibrahim said the garage had been the scene of a previous fire -- which resulted from negligence while working with gas cutters.
“This place stores many cylinders. Some cylinders as tall as me,” he said.
Meanwhile, Maldivian Foreign Minister Ambula Shahid has expressed grief over the incident and said that a "full investigation" into the incident has been launched.
"Deeply saddened by the news of a tragic fire in Male', that has taken the lives of 10 expatriate workers and affected several families. Our thoughts and prayers are with families of the deceased and affected. A full investigation is underway," he tweeted.
"Ten people were confirmed dead, of which eight were Indian nationals. We are yet to ascertain the nationalities of the two other victims," Ramdhir Singh, Welfare Officer, working in the Indian High Commission in Male told PTI.
Foreign workers constitute about half of Male's 250,000-strong population, who are mostly from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
