"I cannot find my sibling, they are not at Maafannu stadium either," a teary eyed Indian woman spoke to Maldives Police.
"Who died?" she continued with her inquiry.
This is just one such case of an expatriate trying to confirm if any of their relatives or loved ones were among those who perished in Thursday morning's fire at the west-block of Maafannu Senrose, or hoping they had survived.
The three-story housing block has burnt to rubble. The incident caused massive property damage and the highest number of lives lost in a fire, reported from Male' city till date. Authorities have already discovered ten charred remains of people.
The Chief Executive of Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) Hisan Hassan confirmed the deceased include nine Indians and one Bangladeshi.
The house, an accommodation building for expatriates described as a "pigeon block" by neighbors and locals, sheltered several foreign workers which included Indians, Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis.
"It has been two years since my sibling arrived in Male' for work. Met them even yesterday, and they lived in that building," an Indian woman spoke while pointing to Maafannu Senrose.
"I have checked the stadium as well. They are not answering the phone," she added with distraught.
She was running amok, unable to stand still and continued to answer multiple phone calls while failing to maintain any stable composure.
"They are not even 25," by then the lady broke down.
Another Indian woman at the site, was looking for her friend who lived in the building. She confirmed her friend was not answering their phone, and it had been switched off. She also added that a relative of hers lived in the building quite recently before departing to their home country.
"They are lucky," the woman said, speaking about her relative.
The site was filled with distraught and devastated expatriates. Some were mourning over the possibility of the worst, while others remained silent following the horrors they witnessed. Some of them continued crying aloud, unable to control their emotions and refusing to talk to anyone while others remained static.
A Bangladesh worker who spoke to media confirmed all of the building's residents paid a monthly rent of MVR 700. Most of the rooms have equipment for cooking, including gas cylinders while it was reported that the building housed more than 28 gas cylinders in multiple rooms.
It has yet to be ascertained which local employer was providing accommodation for the expatriates, or what line of work they were doing. The only confirmable fact as of now is that they all were employed in various businesses in the country's capital.
"The place looks like one large hall. The place was a hall before they installed a deck to accommodate more of them," an individual who has been inside the building commented.
While 10 deaths have been confirmed, onlookers claimed they had seen only six making out of the building.
"I live right next door. Heard screams and when I came out to see the fire had already caught all the floors of the building. I saw six of them making it out of the building, but I am not sure if anyone made out alive after that," another who witnessed the incident claimed.
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