A family in Kitengela, Kajiado County, has spoken out about the final moments of their loved one who tragically died in a building fire in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last Sunday.
In a statement released on Wednesday, April 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that at least two Kenyans lost their lives in the fire, which broke out at a residential building in Sharjah.
According to Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei, the fire engulfed the 44th floor of the 52-storey building. While the statement did not reveal further details or the identities of all the victims, it cited police reports indicating that at least five people perished in the blaze.
Among the deceased was Benjamin Kioko Nduda, a Kenyan national from Kitengela. His family has since come forward to mourn his loss and reflect on his final moments abroad. Born and raised in Kitengela, Benjamin was the family’s firstborn son.
Last moments of Kenyan Benjamin Kioko who died in Sharjah fire
His father, Anthony Muli, speaking to Nation, recalled the last moments of his son, who had left Kenya for the UAE last year in search of better opportunities.
Muli said the family received news of Benjamin’s death on Sunday through a friend of his son living in the UAE. The friend shared heartbreaking video clips showing Benjamin and two of his Kenyan roommates falling to their deaths from the 44th floor of the high-rise building that had caught fire.
According to Muli, the friend revealed that Benjamin was the last to attempt an escape using a rope that had been installed by workers carrying out renovations on the building.
“He let go of the rope and fell to his death. He had been making distress calls for more than two hours. We later noticed he had tried to reach out to his mother on WhatsApp at that moment of need, but her phone was offline,” Muli told Nation.
“We have lost our son and beacon of hope. Apart from our efforts to reach the Kenyan Ambassador in the UAE on Tuesday who referred us to a labor officer- nothing is forthcoming. Our hearts are bleeding and the authorities are silent. We are on our own. We are pleading for state intervention.”
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Tough ride in UAE
According to the father, Benjamin left Kenya for the UAE in February last year through an agent, shortly after completing a mechanical engineering course at the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA).
His father explained that upon arriving in the Middle East, Benjamin faced visa-related challenges within the first month, which rendered him jobless.
To survive, he had to apply for an alien visa that allowed him to take on casual work.
The agent who facilitated his travel had reportedly promised him artisan jobs, but according to the father, abandoned him shortly after his arrival. Left to fend for himself, Benjamin took up contract-based casual jobs to make ends meet.
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Benjamin’s mother Evalyn Nzilani, on her part, said she had lost a friend and prayer partner who had great plans for his life and for the family
“It’s unfortunate I missed the last call from my best friend, my prayer warrior, with whom we had great plans as a family. When he was leaving for the UAE, he urged his siblings to take care of me, that’s how close we were,” she said.
According to the family, funeral arrangements are yet to begin, as they have not settled on where Benjamin will be laid to rest. His body remains in the UAE.
316 Kenyans have died working in Gulf States since 2022
As of July 2024, at least 316 Kenyans working in the Gulf States since 2022 had been confirmed dead, according to Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign and Diaspora Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi.
Appearing before the Senate plenary on July 10, 2024, Mudavadi stated that the deaths were recorded across six of the eight Gulf States.
“The records we have show that the total number of Kenyans who have lost their lives in the Gulf region is 316,” he said.
The states included Saudi Arabia with 166 deaths, Qatar (58), UAE (51), Iraq (25), Bahrain (10), and Kuwait (6), while Oman and Iran had zero deaths.
Mudavadi also revealed that approximately 416,548 Kenyans were working in the Gulf region at the time, with the majority in Saudi Arabia (310,266), followed by Qatar (66,025), and the UAE (23,000).
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