"The ill-fated workers were not burnt but died of suffocation inside the locked furniture warehouse," said Bangladesh Ambassador to Saudi Arabia retired Major General SM Ikram Ul Haque.

The deceased Bangladeshis are Abdur Rouf and Dalim from Noakhali district, Naser from Laxmipur, Naser from Cosba of Brahmanbaria, Nizamuddin from Chandghar of Laksham in Comilla, Nurunnabi, son of Shafi Mistri of Char Chandia under Sonagazi in Feni, and Rafiq, son of Shahid Shikder of Khashial in Narail.

Their bodies were kept at the mortuary of King Faysal Hospital in Taef.

The workers were sleeping in a small room that served as their living quarters in the warehouse when the fire broke out. As it was locked from outside, they could not come out.

Saudi police arrested the owner of Kasar Al Faddi, the company that employed the dead, the ambassador said.

"The deceased Bangladeshis were carpenters and used to make sofa, mattress and other furniture," Haque told the agency over telephone.

The room could be accessed only through the warehouse and did not have any window, reported Saudi newspapers quoting a civil defence official. The blaze was apparently caused by negligence.

"Officials from the Bangladesh consulate in Jeddah rushed to the hospital and are liasing with the Saudi officials concerned to send the Bangladeshis' bodies back home. They will reach Bangladesh as soon as possible," the envoy said.