Seventy six women and children were also injured when the blaze broke out in a tent reserved for women.—File photo
World
KUWAIT CITY: A fire at a wedding tent Saturday has killed at least 41 women and children guests and injured 76 others, authorities said.
The official Kuwait News Agency quotes the fire department chief, Brig. Gen. Jassem al-Mansouri, as saying 41 bodies have been recovered from the scene in Jahra, a tribal area west of Kuwait City. KUNA said 76 people have been hospitalized with burns.
Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Mohammed al-Saber said the cause of the fire has not been determined and authorities were having difficulty evacuating the injured because of relatives and onlookers flooding the scene.
He said Kuwait Army ambulances helped transport the injured to the country's hospitals.
Wedding parties in this conservative oil-rich country are held separately for men and women. Children attend the women's party.
Al-Mansouri said holding such parties in tents could be banned after Saturday's fire.—AP
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Kuwait begin identifying wedding fire victims
AP
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12 mins ago
KUWAIT CITY – Kuwaiti authorities are running DNA tests to identify the 41 women and children killed in a wedding tent fire.
Fire department chief Brig. Gen. Jassem al-Mansouri says the tent was completely consumed in just three minutes in a blazing inferno that left many victims unrecognizeable.
The cause of the fire is still unclear, but could have been faulty electrical wiring, food heating equipment or coals used for burning incense.
He said Saturday that the fire in al-Jahra, west of the capital, was the worst he has seen in his almost four decades of service in this small oil-rich state and close U.S. ally.
Wedding parties are held separately for women and men in Kuwait, and children attend the women's.
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