Gulhifalhu fire: Missing Afcons’ worker still not found

Maldives Police Service, on Sunday, has stated that the worker from Afcons Infrastructure reported missing in the fire at the company’s accommodation block in K. Gulhifalhu early Friday has still not been located.

Gulhifalhu houses some 800 workers from Afcons, an Indian contractor awarded multiple projects in Maldives, including the Thilamale’ Bridge project.

The fire incident, which took place early Friday, resulted in injuries to 76 workers. Out of the 76 people that sustained injuries – 63 people were treated at the Tree Top Hospital in Hulhumale’, while 13 were treated at the Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’.

“They include six people who are seriously injured,” a police spokesperson said.

Two workers reportedly went missing in the fire, which was confirmed after a headcount. One of the workers has since been found, while the other, a truck driver, remains missing.

A Police Spokesperson told Sun on Sunday that the search operation for the missing worker is still ongoing, as the worker has still not been located.

The fire was reported to Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) at 12:31 am. According to MNDF, firefighters were immediately dispatched to the scene. They managed to put out the fire at 01:52 am.

Commenting regarding the incident – Afcons said that the fire originated at a tent that housed staff from Housing Development Corporation (HDC), which resulted in injuries to workers of the company.

While the cause of the fire has not yet been identified – Afcons workers demonstrated at Gulhifalhu expressing their concerns. The company said they were in discussions with the workers, to address their concerns.

There are over thousands of Afcon in the Maldives working on Thilamale’ bridge project. 800 workers are based at Gulhifalhu while the remaining 200 workers are based at Male’ Bridge Site.