The number of people from Kerala who died in the Kuwait fire tragedy has risen to 24, while seven seriously injured persons from the southern state are being treated in various hospitals in the Gulf country, according to a senior official of NORKA Roots on Thursday.

The Department of Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs (NORKA) was constituted by the state government in 1996 to address the grievances of non-resident Keralites both in India and abroad and to establish a sustainable partnership with them.

Ajith Kolasseri, who is holding additional charge of the NORKA Chief Executive Officer, said according to the information provided by its help desk in Kuwait unofficially, the number of casualties among Keralites is rising.

It was 12 in the morning, later updated to 19, and now it stands at 24.

Earlier, the state government had said that as per the information received by it, 19 people from Kerala died in the incident.

Seven seriously injured Keralites are being treated in the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) of various hospitals in Kuwait, he told reporters.

Many injured persons have been discharged from hospitals, he said.

The official said the names and details of the victims could be provided only after confirmation from the External Affairs Ministry.

The NORKA help desk is coordinating with the Indian Embassy and the mortuary departments in the hospitals in Kuwait to expedite the paperwork for bringing the bodies of the victims back home.

According to the Kuwaiti authorities, a devastating fire in a seven-storey building in Mangaf, Ahmadi Governorate, Kuwait, has claimed the lives of 49 foreign workers, including around 40 Indians, and injured 50 others.

The blaze, which started in the kitchen, erupted around 4 am on Wednesday while most of the 195 migrant workers were asleep.

The fire produced thick black smoke, leading to the suffocation of many victims, according to officials from the Kuwait Interior Ministry and the fire department.

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