On the evening of Sunday, March 29, 2026, a service building at the Doha West power generation and water desalination plants in Kuwait was hit by an alleged Iranian drone strike, resulting in the death of an employee of Indian origin, 37-year-old electrician Santhanaselvam Krishnan, and material damage to the plant.

Santhanaselvam Krishnan was originally from the Anikurunthan village near Mudukulathur in the Tamil Nadu state of India. According to Kuwait Times, he had been working as an electrician at an engineering, trading, and contracting firm in Kuwait for over a decade. He left behind a wife, Kousalya, and two children. An image of Santhanaselvam, a middle-aged man with a mustache, was shared by many sources.

Kuwait Times extended its condolences to the family of the deceased and also noted that the death of Santhanaselvam was mourned by the Embassy of India in Kuwait. In its statement, the Embassy expressed its “deepest condolences at the tragic demise of the deceased,” adding that it was “closely coordinating with the Kuwaiti authorities to render all possible support and assistance.”

Kuwait-based Al Thiqa Food Group Company reportedly announced that it would pay one year’s salary to the family. The company told Hindustan Times that it had received all necessary approvals from authorities to begin paying Santhanaselvam’s one-year salary to his family in Tamil Nadu. The information was also reported by the Twitter/X account of Kuwait Times, @kuwaittimesnews.

The Times of India reported on April 1 that the bodies of 20 Indian nationals who died in Kuwait due to various incidents, including the war in the Middle East, arrived at Cochin International Airport in Kerala, and that the body of Santhanaselvam Krishnan was among them.

@AJABreaking reported the incident at the plant on Twitter/X at 1:23 a.m. on Monday, reporting one casualty and extensive material damage from the strike. The media outlet referred to the Kuwaiti Ministry of Electricity as a source of information about the attack.

Later on Monday, the official speaker for the Ministry of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy, Engineer Fatima Abbas Jawhar Hayat, said in a statement that “a service building at one of the power and water desalination plants was subjected to an attack by the Iranian aggression against the State of Kuwait on Sunday evening. This attack resulted in the death of an Indian worker and caused significant material damage to the building.”

Fatima Abbas also added that technical and emergency teams had immediately begun their work according to the approved emergency plans to deal with the repercussions of the incident and maintain operational efficiency, without specifying the location of the targeted plant. The statement was published on the official Ministry’s website.

Al Jarida reported that the Minister of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy, Dr. Subaih Al-Mukhaizeem, immediately inspected the site of the incident, accompanied by Undersecretary Dr. Adel Al-Zamil and Assistant Undersecretary for Power Plants, Eng. Haitham Al-Ali. He checked on the well-being of the plant’s employees and assessed the damage to the building caused by the attack. He directed that all necessary procedures be expedited to ensure everyone’s safety and the continuity of operations.

According to Ammar Alammary on Facebook, NASA’s FIRMS satellite data detected an active fire at the Doha West desalination and power plant in Kuwait. Images showed clear signs of fire and plumes of smoke in the central part of the facility, with heat signatures extending to the coastal storage tanks.

The Doha West plant is Kuwait’s largest combined-cycle power and desalination plant with the power generation capacity of 2,400 MW and water production of 110 million gallons per day (38.5% of Kuwait’s total desalination production). Kuwait relies on desalination for 90% of its drinking water.

@Iran Today reported on Facebook that the spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters (main operational command center of Iran’s armed forces) announced that what he described as Israel’s “aggressive transgression” against a Kuwaiti desalination plant, under the pretext of accusing Iran, is indicative of what he called “the depravity of the Israeli …” The same information was reported by @Arab TV on Facebook. The media outlet attached an image of the spokesman, wearing a military uniform and standing at a podium. However, this information was not corroborated by any local sources, and therefore this incident has been graded as a “likely” Iranian strike and will be updated should further information be found.