At least 10 people were killed and many more were injured when a fire struck the cramped quarters of foreign workers in the Maldivian capital, Male, yesterday, firefighters said.
The capital of the archipelago, best known as an exclusive holiday destination, is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
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Maldives: fire destroys the luxury resort
Officials said 10 bodies were recovered from the upper floor of a building destroyed by the fire, possibly sparked by a vehicle repair shop on the ground floor.
Firefighters said it took about four hours to put out the fire.
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Maldives: fire destroys the luxury resort
Foreign workers make up about half of Malé's population of 250,000 and come mainly from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Their precarious living conditions emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the infection spread three times faster among foreign workers than local ones.
Maldives: fire destroys the luxury resort
Once the fire has been put out, the blackened piers remain, in the crystalline sea.
Unpublished images for a country known more as a paradise vacation.