At least ten people were killed and several others injured in a fire at a hostel for foreign workers in the Maldives on Thursday, the fire service said.
Malé, the capital of the archipelago known as a luxury holiday destination, has one of the highest population densities in the world.
Firefighters reported “finding ten bodies at the top of a building” destroyed by the fire, which started at a ground-floor auto repair shop.
Nine Indians and one Bangladeshi national died, a police official said.
A spokesman for the fire and rescue services added that it took four hours to bring the blaze under control.
Criticism has been raised within the political class about the living conditions of migrant workers, who mainly come from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
These would make up half of the Maldives male population of about 250,000 males.
Their poor living conditions came to light during the pandemic, when it was found that the spread of the coronavirus among this expatriate workforce was three times that of the general population.