An Indian worker was killed in an airstrike on a power and water desalination plant in Kuwait early on Monday, raising the number of Indian nationals killed in the West Asia war to at least eight.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity and Water said in a post on X that the strike also damaged a service building at the facility, condemning it as a “sinful Iranian aggression” against the Gulf state. It added that technical and emergency response teams were dispatched immediately to contain the damage and ensure operations continued.

The latest death follows an incident last Thursday in the United Arab Emirates, where an Indian national was killed by falling debris after a ballistic missile was intercepted over Abu Dhabi. The Indian Embassy had said it was “closely working with the UAE authorities to provide all possible support and assistance.”

The government said after an inter-ministerial meeting on Friday that seven Indian nationals had been killed in the Middle East conflict so far, with one still missing. Monday’s fatality takes the toll higher.

Iran blames Israel

Meanwhile, Iran’s military has accused Israel of attacking Kuwait’s desalination plant.

In a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim agency, it said the “Zionist regime’s brutal attack on Kuwait’s desalination plant, under the pretext of accusing the Islamic Republic of Iran, which took place in the past few hours, is a sign of the vileness and baseness of the Zionist occupiers”.

“We declare that American bases and military personnel, their interests in the region, and the military, security, and economic infrastructure and facilities of the Zionist regime will continue to be our powerful targets,” it said.