About 50 workers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh complained to the office that the company did not pay them their salaries for eight months and was putting them up in an old house that was on the verge of collapse, director of the office Abdul Qadir Al-Ghamdi said.

He said the office immediately moved to close down the company and forwarded the case to the Labor Ministry.

The workers said the company did not only refuse to pay them their salaries and arrears, but also refused to give them final exit visas. It also refused to let them transfer their iqamas to other employers who were ready to take them.

They said a philanthropist paid half of the SR6,800 electricity bill but the company was unwilling to pay the remaining half to restore power to their house.

They feared the company would not pay the rent of the house that was due in a month and said they might find themselves living under bridges.

"We are using candles for lighting. This may cause a fire and we may all die during our sleep," said Muhammad Zain, a foreman.

Seif Al-Islam, a worker from Bangladesh who was diabetic, said he had to beg at the traffic lights to be able to buy his medicine.

"My mother and children back in India depend on what I send them from here. I have not been able to send them any money for eight months," said another worker, Amir Hussain.

Saleem Ansar, a laborer from Pakistan, revealed the company asked each one of the workers to pay SR3,000 for their iqamas. "We explained our case to the labor office and are hoping that things will take a better turn," he added.

The newspaper said it tried for a whole week to contact the company's manager but he refused to answering the calls.

Commenting on the case, member of the National Society for Human Rights Maatouk Al-Sharif said it was the duty of the director of the labor office to communicate with the manager of the company and take firm steps to resolve the case. "The laborers may become desperate and become a security threat to the city," he warned.

Human rights activist Abdul Mohsen Al-Nahdi, who contacted the newspaper about the case, said one of the laborers asked him to translate what was written in the newspapers about their story. "When I went to their home, I found that it had no water or electricity. The workers were clearly very hungry," he said.

Al-Nahdi said he asked some charitable people to extend financial help to them so that they were at least able to live.