Bodies of two Kuwait blaze victims from Odisha reach Bhubaneswar; leaders pay last respects

Bhubaneswar: The newly sworn-in Deputy Chief Ministers of Odisha, along with other leaders paid their respects on Saturday to the bodies of two victims of the Kuwait fire tragedy which arrived in Bhubaneswar today.
Expressing grief over the blaze that left Indians dead in Kuwait's Mangaf on June 12 after a fire broke out in a labour accommodation there.
Odisha Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo said, "It is a tragic incident. They (victims) were working there to support their families. Such a tragic incident is a matter of concern for the world. Odisha CM has announced ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh from his relief fund for the victims' families and has asked us to receive the mortal remains."
Meanwhile, Deputy CM Pravati Parida said the government will try to create employment opportunities in the State only so that people don't need to go outside the state.
"Two people from Odisha died in the Kuwait fire incident. The state government has announced ex gratia of Rs. 4 lakh for the victim's families... We will try to create employment opportunities here. So, the people will not have to leave Odisha for employment," said Pravati Parida.
Earlier today, officials handed over the mortal remains of the victims from Uttar Pradesh in the Kuwait fire.
Detailing the handover, ADM (Finance and Revenue), Vineet Kumar Singh said, "Two residents of Gorakhpur have died in the Kuwait fire incident... Their mortal remains have reached today. Their relatives are here. The administration is with the families of the deceased..."
A total of three people from Uttar Pradesh lost their lives in the incident.
The victims, identified as Angad Gupta (48) and Jairam Gupta (38) of Gorakhpur, had been working in the Gulf country for nearly a decade. They returned to work after staying with their families a few months ago, it was learned.
The wife of Angad Gupta, talking to ANI said, "Angad was staying in Kuwait for the last eight years and used to visit India from time to time. He was working in mall."
Angad, who was the sole breadwinner of the family, is survived by his wife, Reeta Devi and their two children. His daughter Anshika.
Also today the final rites of Sivashankar Govindhan, one of the seven people from Tamil Nadu who was killed in the Kuwait fire tragedy, was performed in Chennai's Royapuram crematorium on Saturday.
Forty-eight-year-old Govindhan who was working in Kuwait for over a year as a truck driver was among the 45 Indians who were killed in the fire at a labour accommodation in Kuwait's Mangaf on June 12. Govindhan is survived by his wife, Hema Kumari, daughter Shanthika and son, Deepak Raj.
Among those who were killed in the Kuwait building fire were seven people from Tamil Nadu, three persons from Andhra Pradesh and one each from Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Punjab, and West Bengal, in addition to the 23 people from Kerala.