Saudi wedding guests electrocuted after celebratory gunfire downs power line, starts fire, kills 25 injures dozens

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (4E) – A courtyard wedding in Saudi Arabia has turned into a tragedy after celebratory gunfire cut a high-voltage power cable and this electrocuted 25 people to death.

The power line, which touched an exit door of a tent, also injured 30 people at a home in the village of Ain Badr, in the Abqaiq region Tuesday night, according to Abdullah Khashman, an Eastern Province official.

Most of the fatalities were women and children. The injured were taken to the Aramco and Central Abqaiq hospitals for treatment.

The downed power line also sparked a fire, but reports did not indicate victims of burning.

The firing of guns to celebrate a wedding is a custom in Saudi Arabia’s tribal population. The government banned the practice last month because of similar deadly incidents in the past.