DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT

Two Bangladeshis were burned to death after a fire broke out at a lodging in Malé, said Sohel Parvez, first secretary (labour) of the Bangladesh High Commission in the Maldives.

A total of 11 foreign workers were killed in the fire. Of them, nine were Indians, reported Indian media.

Mohammad Taiyab, of Faridpur’s Bhanga upazila, was undergoing treatment at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital after suffering burns in the fire, Sohel told The Daily Star yesterday.

“We are in touch with the Maldives authorities to identify the dead,” the official said.

He also said that the information he gathered suggested the workers were domestic helps. Most of those living in the two-storey lodging were from India and Nepal.

Some 1 lakh Bangladeshis work in the Maldives, mostly in the hospitality and construction sectors.