Indian couple who died in Dubai apartment building fire were preparing iftar for neighbours
Dubai (PTI): An Indian couple who died in a major fire at an apartment in Dubai, which killed 16 people, were preparing an iftar meal for their neighbours, a media report has said.
Rijesh Kalangadan, 38, and his wife Jeshi Kandamangalath, 32, both from Kerala, were preparing Vishusadhya, a Hindu harvest festival meal, for their Muslim neighbours to end their fast on Saturday evening.
At least 16 were killed and nine others were injured in the blaze in the Al Ras area, which Dubai Civil Defence attributed to a lack of compliance with building security and safety requirements.
Kalangadan was a business development manager with a travel and tourism company while Kandamangalath was a school teacher.
The couple were celebrating Vishu on Saturday. They were making Vishusadhya, a vegetarian festival feast served on a banana leaf, and had invited their Muslim neighbours, a group of bachelors from Kerala, for iftar, the Gulf News reported.
Riyas Kaikambam, who lived with seven roommates in apartment number 409, said the couple who lived in 406 adjacent to flat 405 where the fire started was very friendly.
The couple used to invite Kaikambam and his roommates during their festivals.
"They had invited us during Onam and Vishu lunches earlier also. This time, they told us to come for iftar as it is Ramzan."
Kaikambam said he last saw the couple outside their apartment. "I could see the teacher was crying," he recalled, adding that the couple went back into their studio flat.
"There was no response to calls later. I could see Rijesh's last seen status on WhatsApp at 12.35 pm. I just can't believe the man who helped me book my flight ticket for Sunday, the man who invited me for iftar, is gone (along with his wife)."
His roommate Suhail Kopa, who was not home during the fire, said: "We are so devastated about losing our neighbours. They are people whom we used to meet and greet every day. It is heartbreaking to think of going to live in the same place where we lost 16 neighbours, some of whom were close to us."
The Dubai Civil Defence Operations Room was notified about the fire at 12.35 pm on Saturday, officials said.
A team from the Dubai Civil Defence headquarters arrived at the site of the blaze and began evacuating residents from the building.
Teams from the Port Saeed Fire Station and the Hamriyah Fire Station were also summoned.
The flames were doused by 2:42 pm (local time), the paper said.
Around 3 pm, the civil defence team rescued the occupants on the third floor by cranes.
According to the Khaleej Times newspaper, eyewitnesses said they saw flames billowing out of the building.
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New application filed in SC against Adani group over US indictment
New Delhi: A fresh application has been submitted to the Supreme Court of India, seeking the inclusion of key documents related to the recent US indictment of the Adani Group. Filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, the petition aims to introduce two critical pieces of evidence into an ongoing case related to the Adani Group's financial practices.
The first document is a formal US court indictment accusing Gautam Adani, his relative Sagar Adani, and other company executives of orchestrating a massive bribery scheme to secure solar energy contracts worth billions of dollars in India. The indictment alleges that over $250 million in bribes were paid to Indian government officials to obtain these lucrative contracts.
The second document is a complaint from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which accuses the Adani Group of securities fraud. The SEC alleges that Adani executives misled investors to raise funds for these solar projects, despite knowing that part of the capital was linked to corrupt activities.
This development follows the US Attorney's Office's recent charges against the Adani executives, who are accused of masterminding a bribery scheme to secure power supply contracts with state-run utilities in India. The contracts were expected to yield up to $2 billion in profits over two decades.
These charges come amid an ongoing investigation by India's Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) into the Adani Group, after allegations of stock manipulation and market irregularities surfaced, particularly following the release of the Hindenburg Report in early 2023. The new US legal documents could play a crucial role in strengthening the investigation into the Adani Group's business operations.
