Kottayam (Kerala), Pradeep, father of 27-year-old Srihari, who died in the building fire that killed 49 people in Kuwait on Wednesday, was able to identify his son's body only by the tattoo on his hand. ,
Pradeep said the authorities had called him to identify his son's body kept in the hospital morgue.
"When I got there, I saw that his face was completely swollen and there was soot on his nose. I couldn't recognize him. I just couldn't."
"Then I told them that he had a tattoo on his hand. Based on that, he was identified," Pradeep told a tearful Malayalam news channel in Kuwait on Thursday.
Srihari had returned to Kuwait from Kerala only on June 5 last week.Both father and son worked in the same company.
Pradeep has been working in Kuwait for the last eight years.
Earlier in the day, a friend of the family told reporters that barely a week after Srihari left for Kuwait, news of his death reached his village here.
The family friend said, “Barely a week later, the news of his death reached here. We came to know about it yesterday afternoon.His father informed the family as news about the tragedy was coming on TV."
He said Srihari was working in a supermarket in Kuwait until he got a job related to his field of study, mechanical engineering.
"His father is trying to return to Kerala today and efforts are being made to bring back his body by tomorrow," he said.
Neither the central and state governments nor the Indian Embassy in Kuwait have officially confirmed the identities of the Indians killed in the fire.
A fire broke out in a building in the southern city of Mangaf, killing 49 foreign workers, including about 40 Indians, and injuring 50 others, according to Kuwaiti officials.The fire broke out early on Wednesday in the kitchen of a seven-storey building housing 195 migrant workers in Mangaf, Ahmadi province.
The fire broke out just after 4 a.m. while most of the building's 196 all-male residents were sleeping.
According to Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior and fire department officials, this resulted in huge, dense clouds of black smoke, which caused most of the victims to die of suffocation.
Pradeep said the authorities had called him to identify his son's body kept in the hospital morgue.
"When I got there, I saw that his face was completely swollen and there was soot on his nose. I couldn't recognize him. I just couldn't."
"Then I told them that he had a tattoo on his hand. Based on that, he was identified," Pradeep told a tearful Malayalam news channel in Kuwait on Thursday.
Srihari had returned to Kuwait from Kerala only on June 5 last week.Both father and son worked in the same company.
Pradeep has been working in Kuwait for the last eight years.
Earlier in the day, a friend of the family told reporters that barely a week after Srihari left for Kuwait, news of his death reached his village here.
The family friend said, “Barely a week later, the news of his death reached here. We came to know about it yesterday afternoon.His father informed the family as news about the tragedy was coming on TV."
He said Srihari was working in a supermarket in Kuwait until he got a job related to his field of study, mechanical engineering.
"His father is trying to return to Kerala today and efforts are being made to bring back his body by tomorrow," he said.
Neither the central and state governments nor the Indian Embassy in Kuwait have officially confirmed the identities of the Indians killed in the fire.
A fire broke out in a building in the southern city of Mangaf, killing 49 foreign workers, including about 40 Indians, and injuring 50 others, according to Kuwaiti officials.The fire broke out early on Wednesday in the kitchen of a seven-storey building housing 195 migrant workers in Mangaf, Ahmadi province.
The fire broke out just after 4 a.m. while most of the building's 196 all-male residents were sleeping.
According to Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior and fire department officials, this resulted in huge, dense clouds of black smoke, which caused most of the victims to die of suffocation.