Kuwait fire: Building wasn’t crammed, short circuit possible cause, says employer K G Abraham

Abraham, a businessman who started his journey from Kerala and made it big in post-war Kuwait in the 1990s, told the media in Kochi that they would provide a compensation of Rs 8 lakh each to the dependents of the victims.

“The families would be given four years’ salary and other benefits. The incident was painful and unfortunate,” he said. “My children are going to meet the families of all victims in various states. We want to assure all our support to the families. If they want jobs or assistance for higher education, we will provide that.”

“The incident happened at the building which NBTC had taken on lease. The fire was not due to our negligence, but we take responsibility for the tragedy. We were told that the cause of the fire was a short circuit. All our rooms in the apartments had centralised AC. We had not crammed people in rooms, as alleged. We care about the safety of employees and used to conduct safety checks at regular intervals. Our employees are not allowed to cook food in their rooms; they have a common kitchen and dining area,” he said.

The firm, NBTC, was established in 1977 and now operates across Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. It provides services linked to engineering and construction, logistics, hotel and retailing. Abraham also heads the K G Group, which co-produced the hit movie Aadujeevitham that was released earlier this year, and is involved in the hospitality sector in Kerala.