RIYADH, 11 July 2005 — Eight expatriates — seven Bangladeshis and one Yemeni — died in a fire which broke out in their living quarters in Taif on Saturday. The Bangladesh Consulate in Jeddah confirmed the deaths and stated that the victims were employees in a furniture factory in the western part of the city.
The victims included Abdul Rauf, Muhammad Dalin, Muhammad Naseer, Muhammad Nasseeruddin, Muhammad Rafiq, Muhammad Nizam and Muhammad Nazeer.
“The incident took place at 3 p.m. when the workers were sleeping in their room after their mid-day meal,” Labor and Welfare Officer Muhammad Jehangir Alam told Arab News yesterday. He said the place was used both as a living room and bedroom for the workers.
An eighth Bangladeshi, who was living in the same room, escaped the blaze as he had gone to a nearby shop when the fire broke out. “It was he who informed the civil defense about the fire,” said Muhammad Alam.
The room where the victims died could only be accessed through the warehouse and did not have a window.
Consul General Ashrafuddin told Arab News that he had sent a special team headed by an embassy official, Abdul Hashim Choudhury.
“Since it is a police case, we have to wait for its report to claim the dead bodies and to work out the compensation,” he added.
