Kuwait Interior Ministry. Photo courtesy of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
More than 30 people were also injured in the fire, a hospital official told Interior Minister Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef as he visited victims, according to footage posted by Al-Jarida newspaper.
All injured people have been taken to several nearby hospitals for medical treatment, KUNA reported, quoting Maj. Gen. Eid al-Oweihan, the Chief of the Ministry Criminal Division.
The fire had been brought under control, the security official said in a statement to Kuwait TV, adding that the authorities were combing the area for evidence as to the cause of the blaze.
Forensic teams have identified three of the bodies, Owaihan added.
According to a source in the General Fire Department, the victims suffocated from rising smoke after the fire broke out on the ground floor.
The building's owner has been detained in an investigation into potential negligence, the Interior Minister Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef said as he too visited the scene.
Short link: