Dozens of people were killed late yesterday when a fire broke out in a wedding tent in the Ayoun area of Jahra. Sources said all the victims were women. Rescue efforts were hampered because the burning tent collapsed on the women and the power supply failed. Many of the women were also killed in a stampede that ensued. Twenty fire trucks and dozens of firemen battled the blaze, while the injured were rushed to hospitals.

TV channels put the toll at more than 44. Incidentally the victims of yesterday’s fire, said to be from the Al-Enezi family, are relatives of a few ill-fated women who died in a similar accident in Jahra a few months ago.

The Director General of the Fire Department Major General Jassim Al-Mansouri earlier said fire fighters teams were continuing to recover dead bodies from the tent, noting that preliminary estimates put the number of fatalities at 13. Al-Mansouri said that the death toll could rise due to the large number of injuries as result of the stampede that followed the eruption of the fire at the tent that was packed with people.

The official added four fire fighter teams were mobilized, including Al-Jahra, Al-Jahra Al-Harafi, Al-Sulaibiya and Al-Ardiya departments, in addition to help from specialized departments in combating the fire and transferring those injured to nearby hospitals.

An investigation was opened to probe the reason behind the fire, Al-Mansouri added.