Saudi fire: Embassy checking on casualties

31 August 2015 07:14 am

Officials of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Saudi have been directed to check whether any Sri Lankan employees had been affected by the fire which engulfed the Aramco Oil Company’s residential complex, Foreign Employment Bureau (FEB) said.

The fire is reported to have killed at least eleven people and injured 206.

FEB Deputy General Manager Mangala Randeniya told Daily Mirror the officials are facing difficulties in getting there because the fire had led to the closure of several roads leading to the residential complex.

He said the Embassy had no information yet whether any Sri Lankan’s might have died or been injured in the fire.

However, Mr. Randeniya said they had not ruled out the possibility of any Sri Lankans being caught up in the fire because they are known to visit the complex often.

Meanwhile, Saudi Civil Defence authorities, in a message posted on Twitter, said the casualties were from "various nationalities" but gave no details.

According to reports, the Aramco Oil Company employs more than 61,000 workers from 77 countries. (Piyumi Fonseka)