Global Arab Network | Kuwait - Wedding fire kills more than 40

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Kuwait - Wedding fire kills more than 40

Global Arab Network - - Adam Turner

Sunday, 16 August 2009 19:56

A fire at a wedding party in Kuwait has left at least 41 people dead and more than 70 seriously injured late on Saturday night in Jahra, west of the Kuwaiti capital.

Brigadier-General Jassem al-Mansouri, the fire department chief, said 58 of the injured were still in hospital on Sunday, and seven were in a serious condition with severe burns.

"It was a horrific scene with bodies and many shoes stuck to the ground at the only exit. They must have trampled over one another," al-Mansouri said.

The authorities were running DNA tests to identify the 35 women and six children killed in the fire, which left many victims unrecognisable.

Relatives and onlookers had crowded the area around the blazing tent, which had been engulfed in less than two minutes.

The authorities were investigating the cause of the blaze and al-Mansouri said it could have been faulty electrical wiring, a problem with the equipment used to keep the wedding food buffet warm or the coals used for burning incense.

Kuwait banned the use of wedding tents on Sunday.

Wedding celebrations in Kuwait are held separately for men and women, with children attending the women's party. (AFP, Reuters)

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