Wedding fire in Kuwait kills at least 41 guests

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.