Probe launched as victims given emotional burial

Manama: The 24 victims of a tragedy that turned wedding celebrations into drama were laid to rest in an emotion-laden burial in Albaqeeq in eastern Saudi Arabia.

Relatives, friends, Saudis, Kuwaitis, Qataris and dignitaries were at the cemetery to bury the 13 women, six children and five young men who perished when a high voltage wire reportedly dropped onto the iron door of the wedding yard.

Most of the victims died when panic-struck women and children attempting to escape were electrocuted by the door, the only exit in the 900 square metre high-walled yard.

Witnesses said that male relatives tried to tear down the wall or make holes to help pull out women and children to safety. One young man drove his car into the wall in a desperate effort to cut a hole, they said.

The six men died after they were electrocuted as they tried to open the door and allow the female guests and children out of the yard, witnesses said.

“I have lost a male relative after he ran to rescue the women and children, but he was electrocuted,” Nasser Al Hajri who lost relatives told local Arabic daily Al Sharq.

Reports said that 55 people were injured in the tragedy.

The police have launched an investigation into the tragedy amid claims by victims’ relatives that rescue efforts were slow.

A civil defence officer said that the yard was not licensed and did not meet the safety standards.

“The fact that it had one door only has compounded the tragedy,” Abdullah Khushaiman, the head of Eastern Province civil defence, told Al Riyadh daily.

Initial reports pointed out that the wire may have dropped onto the door after it was hit by a bullet shot in the celebratory fire that usually accompanies weddings in rural areas.

Saudi Arabia has banned the custom of firing in the air, but few people were expected to comply with the rules.