Sixteen Indians, mostly from Tamil Nadu, were killed and 11 others injured when a major fire broke out in a building housing over 200 workers in Bahrain early on Sunday.

The incident, apparently caused by a short circuit, took place in Gudabiya area around 2.30 am (5 am IST) when there were 218 people in the camp, mostly Indians, police said.

However, workers claimed that there were over 350 Indians in the building.

The eleven injured were being treated in a hospital for burns they received in the fire.

Indian Ambassador to Bahrain Balakrishan Shetty told PTI that most of the 16 workers killed worked for Royal Towers Construction.

Most of the workers died as a result of suffocation, he said. The remaining workers, who escaped the fire, have been shifted to a neighbouring gym.

India said it is in constant touch with its mission in Bahrain following the death of its nationals and has sought a detailed report on the incident.

"Our embassy with the cooperation of the Bahrain government is taking all the necessary action," Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed told PTI over phone from Calicut in Kerala.

The Indian mission in Bahrain was also examining reports that the home where the Indian workers were living was overcrowded.

Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said special arrangements were being made to bring back the bodies of the victims home.

The bodies would be brought to Chennai by Monday, he told reporters.

Following is the list of names released by the Indian government of those who died and were injured in the fire:

The list of dead: Raja Velu, Raja, Balu Samy, Poomalai, Muthuvel, Senthil, Shiva, Kannadasan, Chinnadurai, Kumar, Sivaprakasham, Palai Muthu, Muthian, Rajaratnam, Subrahmanian and Shankar.

The list of injured who are being treated in Salmaniya medical hospital: S Tevandran, Ramachandran Thangarasu, Sai Kumar,  A Nelmubugan, Raja Sekharan, Ranganathan, R Dhanabar, Venkatesa Murthy, Sellavel Shanmughan, Muthusamy Poomalai and Rajavel Dhanabal.