Sixteen people have been killed in a devastating fire at a sofa factory in the Musa Sanaiya industrial area under Shifa police station in Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital. All of the dead are Bangladeshis, the Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh has said.
The fire broke out at the factory in the industrial area around 2pm on Sunday (9 August). Fire service rescuers working at the scene confirmed the 16 deaths.
The Bangladesh embassy’s counsellor (labour) in Riyadh, Mohammad Rezaye Rabbi, said that according to local eyewitnesses all 16 of the dead were Bangladeshis. The bodies were badly burned in the fire, making identification difficult, and the local fire service was still carrying out rescue work. The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment also confirmed the information late on Sunday night. BD Global Times could not independently verify the toll.
Embassy officials are at the scene, contacting local Saudi authorities to identify the dead, while gathering necessary information about the fire and coordinating next steps.
Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury expressed deep grief over the incident, offering condolences to the victims’ families in an earlier message. The untimely deaths of Bangladeshi workers who go to Saudi Arabia to earn a living were deeply heartbreaking, he said, adding that their contribution to the country’s economy was immense.
He said the embassy was in constant contact with the accident site and local authorities, and that officials had been directed to bring the bodies home quickly and to ensure necessary government assistance and compensation for the victims’ families.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report