National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has arranged temporary housing for victims of the tragic fire on September 20 to stay under state care in Gaakoshi Flats, until permanent housing is resolved for them.
NDMA explained the victims will be provided with their basic needs and will be provided with a food allowance for the families that stay under state care. The fire victims that lived in rental apartments have also been provided with three-month rental. NDMA said all of them have been instructed to rent apartments by the end of the month as part of the efforts to get them back to normal lives.
The authority overseeing disasters in Maldives also said some families had already moved back from temporary shelters. 141 people from 24 families have been living under state care until the end of the month, according to NDMA. The authority is also has been making assessments of the losses incurred to households.
The assessments conducted in 92 households living in 18 residential buildings indicate 41 households have been completely destroyed in the fire. The assessments to identify the impacts to the buildings is also underway, while some storage facilities in the area have been demolished after assessments of 31 buildings showed the buildings were deemed unsafe.
Meanwhile, the donations NDMA received for its Fire Relief Fund will be distributed to fire victims once the structural assessment of the buildings are completed. NDMA states the amount received in donations so far amounts to USD 161,854.
The tragic fire that originated in a chemical storage facility destroyed 7 residential buildings and 4 storage facilities, killing a 46-year-old woman.