Disasters & Incidents
Riyadh factory fire kills 16 Bangladeshis, Dhaka says
Bangladesh's foreign ministry said Monday that 16 Bangladeshi nationals died in a fire at a sofa manufacturing factory in Riyadh the previous day.
The Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh said the fire broke out on Sunday at a manufacturing facility in the industrial area of the Al Shifa district. The embassy said no injuries were reported and that all those affected died.
Bangladesh's Expatriates' Welfare Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury said Dhaka was in constant communication with local authorities through the Bangladeshi embassy in Saudi Arabia. He said officials had been instructed to speed the repatriation of the bodies and secure government assistance and compensation for the victims' families.
The embassy later said it remained in contact with the families of the deceased and was coordinating with Saudi authorities on victim identification and repatriation formalities.
Riyadh civil defence said it had extinguished a fire at an unlicensed facility where furniture was upholstered. It did not give casualty details, and said regulatory procedures for the site had been completed.
Around seven million Bangladeshis work overseas, most of them in the Middle East. Reports in Saudi media estimate that more than three million Bangladeshi nationals live in Saudi Arabia.
Update
The Bangladesh embassy said the fire broke out in the industrial area of Riyadh's Al Shifa district.
The embassy said there were no injuries reported and that all those affected died.
The embassy said it was in contact with the victims' families and coordinating victim identification and repatriation formalities with Saudi authorities.
Source note: AFP news report published on 10 August 2026 at 17:18:07 UTC.
Update
Bangladesh's Expatriates' Welfare Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury said officials had been instructed to speed the repatriation of the bodies and secure government assistance and compensation for families.
Riyadh civil defence said it extinguished a fire at an unlicensed site used for furniture upholstery.
Riyadh civil defence said regulatory procedures were completed for the site.
The Saudi civil defence statement did not give casualty details.
The source reported that around seven million Bangladeshis work overseas, most of them in the Middle East.
Source note: AFP news report published on 10 August 2026 at 12:08:10 UTC.
Update
Bangladesh's foreign ministry said the fire was at a sofa manufacturing factory in Riyadh.
The ministry said the fire happened the previous day.
Bangladesh's Expatriates' Welfare Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury said Dhaka was in constant communication with local authorities through its embassy in Saudi Arabia.
Source note: AFP news report published on 10 August 2026 at 11:56:00 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
Saudi civil defence did not provide casualty details.
The cause of the fire was not stated in the supplied material.
Source
AFP news report published on .