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Fire at Kuwait wedding kills 47, injures 80

At least 47 women and children died and about 80 were injured when a devastating fire, barely lasting three minutes, charred a tent at a wedding ceremony in Kuwait City.

Updated on: Aug 16, 2009, 23:56:53 IST
PTI | By , Dubai
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At least 47 women and children died and about 80 were injured when a devastating fire, barely lasting three minutes, charred a tent at a wedding ceremony in Kuwait City.

HT Image
HT Image

The blaze which broke out on Saturday in a tent reserved for women at a wedding ceremony in Jahra north of Kuwait City killed 41 women and three children, chief of the fire department told Arab News on Sunday.

“The fire broke out at around 9.20 pm on Saturday in the tent allocated for women. Apart from the dead, 80 women are injured and have been rushed to hospital for treatment,” Major General Jassem al-Mansouri told the paper.

The rescue efforts were hampered as the burning tent collapsed on women and the power supply failed.

Many were also killed in a stampede that ensued. About 20 fire trucks and dozens of firemen battled the blaze, while the injured were rushed to hospitals, Mansouri added in the report.

“The remains of the dead, some of which have been charred beyond recognition, will be subjected to DNA examination for their identification soon,” Major Khalil Al-Amir, Manager Public Affairs at Kuwait Fire Department told the paper.

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