It is said that this is the worst fire in Maldives in terms of casualties.
Locals said that ten houses in that three-storey house were mainly inhabited by foreigners, they were expatriate workers from Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. Some were trapped in their homes or toilets after the garage fire.
According to Miharu Online, separate gas cylinders were kept in the garage for the residents of the building to cook. All cylinders explode simultaneously.
Fire service and Maldives Red Crescent authorities rescued 14 people alive from the building, local media reported. The injured have been taken to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Maldives.