7 Bangladeshi workers killed in Saudi Arabia factory fire

Seven Bangladeshi migrant workers were killed in a fire at a sofa manufacturing factory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh’s expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry said.

The fire broke out Aug. 9 in Riyadh’s Manfuhah area. The victims, from Atrai upazila in Naogaon, had traveled to Saudi Arabia from several villages and were working at the factory, according to local officials.

“Such an untimely and tragic death of our expatriate brothers working in Saudi Arabia to earn a livelihood is deeply heartbreaking,” expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment minister Ariful Haque Choudhury said.

Choudhury said the Bangladesh Embassy was maintaining contact with Saudi authorities. Officials have been instructed to repatriate the bodies as quickly as possible and provide government assistance and compensation to the victims’ families.