7 Bangladeshis have been killed in a fire at a sofa factory in the Modina Al-Khalil area near Mount Uhud in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Medina. All the victims are from Cox's Bazar district in South Chittagong.

The accident took place at 2pm Saudi time and 5am Bangladesh time on Wednesday. The deceased have been identified as 3 from Teknaf in Cox's Bazar district, 3 from Lohagara police station in Chittagong South district and one from Ramu. More casualties are feared, said a legal assistant at the Jeddah consulate in Medina.

Two of them have been identified as two brothers of Lohagara Sadar Union, Ward 9, South Sukhchhari Shambir Para, South Chittagong. Elder brother Nizam and younger brother Arafat. The names of the others have not been confirmed yet.

Note that four Bangladeshi workers died in a fire at a sofa factory in Riyadh's Haraj bin Kashem Manfuha district four years ago. And just a year ago, six people, including four Bangladeshis, were killed in a fire at a sofa factory in the Dalla Sanaiya area of ​​Dammam.

Sunbd/NJ