Kuwait car
Picture of the wreckage. Image Credit: Nasreen Al-Aboush - Erm News

Kuwait City: Eight people were killed and one injured early Monday in a mishap involving four cars in the Kuwaiti area of Kabad, police said.

The tragedy started after three cars collided in Kabad, about 35 kilometres from Kuwait City, and a crowd of people gathered to help, the Kuwaiti Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) said.

Afterwards, a speeding four wheel-drive vehicle hit the crowd, resulting in a number of deaths and injuries, KFSD added.

Fire brigades and air ambulances rushed to the scene and transported the victims to hospitals.

Authorities opened an investigation into the accident, the Interior Ministry’s General Department of Public Relations and Security Media said without details.

Traffic crashes are among the world’s highest in Kuwait, a Gulf country of around 4.5 million people.

At least 120 people have died in road accidents in Kuwait since the start of the year until mid-May, a security official recently told Al Qabas newspaper. The majority of the dead were young men, according to the official.

Road crashes killed 401 in Kuwait last year, against 424 in 2017, according to official figures. Rash driving is mainly blamed.