SAUDI ARABIA: House fire leaves 11 foreign workers dead

Eleven migrant workers died from asphyxiation when fire swept through a windowless house they shared in Saudi Arabia, officials said. Six others were injured in the fire in the south-western city of Najran, the civil defence directorate said. The victims all hailed from Bangladesh and India, it added. The region’s governor has ordered an investigation […]

Eleven migrant workers died from asphyxiation when fire swept through a windowless house they shared in Saudi Arabia, officials said.

Six others were injured in the fire in the south-western city of Najran, the civil defence directorate said.

The victims all hailed from Bangladesh and India, it added.

The region’s governor has ordered an investigation and expressed concern over workers’ accommodation, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

An estimated nine million foreigners work in Saudi Arabia, many of them from South Asia.

“Firefighters put out a blaze in an old house where there is no ventilation (windows) resulting in the death of 11 residents and injuring six others due to smoke inhalation,” the civil defence directorate said in a tweet.