Kuwait: Ex-wife behind deadly wedding fire

Published August 17th, 2009 - 01:52 GMT

The ex-wife of the groom at a Kuwait wedding where a fire killed 43 women and children and wounded some 90 others, has confessed to starting the blaze as an act of revenge, according to local press reports published on Monday. Al-Qabas daily conveyed the 23-year-old woman had told police she used petrol to torch a wedding tent packed with women and children to avenge her ex-husband's "bad treatment" of her before their divorce.

 

Quoting unnamed security sources, Al-Qabas reported the first wife's Asian maid told police she saw her pouring petrol around the large women-only tent in the town of Jahra before the blaze started.

 

Of the 90 wounded, five remain in critical condition with severe burns. According to AFP, Kuwaiti sources said that medical teams from Germany and Britain will arrive on Monday to treat the injured.