New Delhi/Manama At least 16 workers from Tamil Nadu died and 11 others were injured after a devastating fire broke out in a three-storey building at a labour camp in Bahrain capital Manama early Sunday.

According to officials in the ministry of overseas Indian affairs (MOIA), the process of repatriation of the bodies is likely to start Monday after the investigation launched into the incident by Bahrain police is completed. The ministry has set up a 24-hour helpline for the families of the victims.

The fire broke out after an electrical short circuit at a labour camp in the Al Qudhaybia area of the Bahraini capital around 2:30 am local time (5 a.m. IST).

"The fire occurred at the Gudabia labour camp in Bahrain, two kilometres from Manama. Sixteen bodies have been taken out and more casualties are expected," Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi told IANS.

There were around 300 people in the camp, being run by the Royal Tower Construction Company, according to Ravi. The fire occurred on the topmost floor of the building, and most of the victims died due to suffocation, he said.

Ravi said the Indian embassy in Bahrain had been asked to send the bodies of the killed Indians back home "as soon as possible".

"I have asked the embassy there to do whatever is needed to complete the modalities so that the bodies can be sent to India as soon as possible," he said.

The deceased have been identified as: Raja Vellu, Raja, Balusamy, Poomalai, Muthuvellu, Senthil, Shiva, Kannadasan, Chinnadurai, Shivaprakashan, Palaimuthu, Kumar, Muthalan, Raja Ratnam, Subramanian and Shankar.

MOIA officials said other inmates of the camp have been shifted to safer places.

Bahrain Prime Minister Khalifa Bin Salman Ali Khalifa visited the site of the tragedy and local authorities have launched an inquiry into the blaze.

There are around 130,000 Indians in Bahrain, many of whom contract workers.

According to a statement by Bahrain's ministry of interior affairs, a fire broke out early Sunday morning in a three-floor building, used as residence for workers, behind the Omar Al Khayam Hotel in Al Qudhaybia area in Manama.

Civil defence cars, forces of public security and ambulances rushed to the scene for evacuation and rescue operations while the injured were moved to hospitals, it said.

The fire was possibly caused by an electrical short-circuit, reports said.

DPA news agency quoted one of the survivors as saying: "The fire took us by surprise. I was asleep when the firemen broke into our room and started evacuating us.

"We usually get up at 5 a.m. and don't get back from work until 7 p.m. so most of the workers were tired and asleep when the fire started in the building."

"Between eight and 15 of us share a room in the 21-bedroom building and we mainly come from the same district in India so we are very close," said another worker according to DPA.

"Some of us have lived and worked here between a year and four years, so we are a very close group and I can't believe that 16 of my friends could be lost in this horrific way."

The grieving survivors were in a state of shock as some of them cried for lost friends and relatives.

News of the incident shocked the large Indian community in Bahrain as co-workers who live in nearby buildings and company officials moved to assist the survivors.

Earlier, Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed said: "I am in constant touch with the Indian ambassador at Bahrain. The 16 people who died are being identified. I am told that seven more are injured. Their condition is stable.

"All the dead are from Tamil Nadu. The cause of death is due to a fire that broke out in their camp due to an electric short-circuit. I have asked the ambassador (to Bahrain) to prepare a list of all those who are staying in the camp," the minister told IANS in Thiruvananthapuram.

"We are in touch with the relatives of the dead and after getting their opinion we would transport the bodies at our expense to their homes," he added.

The kingdom of Bahrain, like many Gulf states, relies on a large number of foreign workers, mostly from Asian countries, who work primarily in the construction and service industries.