The Daily Post
ALJAHARA, Kuwait — A massive fire that destroyed a Kuwaiti wedding tent and killed more than 40 women inside was started by the groom’s ex-wife, it emerged yesterday.
Police refused to name her, but confirmed a woman was in custody and had “confessed to committing the crime for personal reasons”.
The inferno on Saturday, in the tribal area of alJahra, west of Kuwait City, destroyed the women’s tent in just three minutes.
It was still unclear if the bride had survived.
Kuwaiti newspapers speculated on the cause, saying that the groom’s former wife was to blame.
The independent AlQabas daily said the groom’s former wife, who is 23, poured petrol on the tent and lit it because she felt her ex-husband mistreated her when they were married.
The “final and exact” death toll discussed in a high-level security meeting was 41, said the Kuwaiti Fire Department.
The fire chief, who described the fire as the worst disaster he had seen in almost 40 years of service, said six bodies were still unidentified and it was not known if the bride survived the carnage.
Fifty-two others injured in the blaze remained in hospital.
Kuwaitis celebrate weddings in separate parties for men and women, with children attending the women’s event which features singing and dancing and a dinner buffet.
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