Mortal remains of 45 Indians, who perished in the inferno that swallowed a labour camp in Kuwait on Wednesday, were brought back to Kochi by a special Indian Air Force aircraft on Friday.

Meanwhile, a separate IAF aircraft carrying the mortal remains of 14 Indians landed in Palam Technical Airport in the national Capital from Kochi in the evening. The newly elected BJP MPs, including Northwest Delhi’s Yogender Chandolia, New Delhi’s Bansuri Swaraj and South Delhi’s Kamaljeet Sehrawat received the body at the airport.

The coffins carrying dead bodies of 23 persons from Kerala were accorded homage by the State Government at the goods terminal of Cochin International Airport Ltd where Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Council of Ministers had lined up to pay the last respect to the victims. Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, accompanied the bodies from Kuwait to Kochi.

The bodies of 23 expatriates from Kerala were taken to their native places by special ambulances arranged by the Government. Heartrending scenes were seen at the cargo  terminal where the bodies were deplaned while the rest of the bodies were taken to New Delhi. Thirty one bodies were flown to Kerala in the special IAF aircraft and this included seven from Karnataka and one from Tamil Nadu. The bodies of deceased from other States were received at Kochi airport by the official representatives of the concerned States.

The CPI(M) and Congress leaders blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre for the fire tragedy that resulted in the loss of human lives. Kerala’s Minister for Health Veena George who expressed her desire to visit Kuwait ostensibly to lead the rescue and relief mission had to abort her travel plans as she was denied “political clearance” by the Centre. A visibly upset Veena George had to return to her bungalow after the flight to Kuwait took off from Kochi late Thursday night.

The entire council of ministers turning up at the airport to pay tributes to the victims was in stark contrast to what happened when the body of Soumya, a 32-year-old home nurse  who was killed by the Hamas terrorists in Israel in May 2021 was flown to Kochi. There was no representatives from the State government or any political leaders present at the airport though the mortal remains was accompanied by senior officials of Israeli embassy.

The ill-fated labor camp in Kuwait is owned by K G Abraham, a non-resident Keralite who has major stakes in hotel, hospital and evangelization businesses. There are allegations that nearly 200 workers were jampacked in the seven storied building which has a capacity to accommodate only less than half of the inmates.