Stray bullet kills groom on wedding night in Kuwait

Manama A wedding ceremony turned into a tragedy in Kuwait after the groom was inadvertently shot by a friend.

The groom was being driven to the marriage hall in the early evening to receive the congratulations of his relatives and friends when a friend sitting behind him took out his gun to get ready to fire in the air upon their arrival to mark the celebrations.

However, the friend reportedly fired a shot accidently and killed the groom sitting in front of him, local Arabic daily Al Watan reported on Tuesday.

The police arrested the shocked friend and launched an investigation, the daily said.

Celebratory gun fires are popular in the Middle East, especially among tribes marking weddings, despite official efforts to stamp out the use of firearms.

Thousands of Arab families have been anticipating Eid, the feast that marks the end of Ramadan, the sacred month during which Muslims abstain from food and drink from sunrise until sunset, to celebrate with great fanfare weddings.

In another Eid tragedy, three Saudi women have drowned as they were getting ready to have their lunch.

According to local media, the three cousins were out on a picnic with their family on Monday when they fell in the Laith Sea in the west of the country. Efforts to rescue them failed, turning the celebrations into a tragedy.