At least five migrant workers from Murshidabad district, who were seriously injured in a fire in Karnataka’s Bengaluru, which broke out at a temporary camp on a construction site on Monday, died on Friday and Saturday.
Two more workers with burn injuries are fighting for their lives.
A source said that seven workers from Behrampore and Hariharpara police station areas of Murshidabad had gone to Bengaluru in Karnataka last month to work as construction labourers.
There, they stayed in a temporary camp set up by the promoter.
Last Monday night, after dinner, all seven fell asleep in the same room. Around midnight, the room caught fire.
Although they managed to come out of the inferno, all seven suffered severe burns and were admitted to the government-owned Victoria Hospital in Bangalore.
The five deceased were Jahid Ali, 32, from Hariharpara village (Hariharpara police station), Minarul Sheikh, 35, and Tajibul Sheikh, 35, from Nagrajol village (Behrampore police station), Jiabul Sheikh, 40, and Safidul Sheikh, 33, from Nagrajol village (also Behrampore police station).
Reacting to the deaths, Saiful Islam, head of the Nagrajol village panchayat, said: “They had been working as construction labourers in Bengaluru for about seven or eight years. They left the village after a break about a month-and-a-half ago. Migrant labourers from here face many hardships, but they used to say Bengaluru was problem-free. I can’t imagine their lives ending like this.”
Samirul Islam, who chairs the West Bengal Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board and is a Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member, said: “Following the instructions of our chief minister Mamata Banerjee, we arranged the transportation of the bodies from Karnataka. The bereaved kin will receive government benefits according to norms.”
Reacting to the deaths, former Baharampur MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: “It is extremely sad how migrant workers from Murshidabad district are dying in other states.... I will request the state government to ensure that people from the area do not have to go to work in other states. Some are beaten, some die and some are sent to Bangladesh. How much more will the people of this area endure?”