Celebratory Gunfire at Saudi Wedding Cuts Cable, 23 Electrocuted [View all]

Source: Reuters

Celebratory gunfire at Saudi wedding cuts cable, 23 electrocuted

RIYADH | Wed Oct 31, 2012 5:11am EDT

(Reuters) - Celebratory gunfire at a wedding party in eastern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night brought down an electric cable, killing 23 people, a local civil defense official said.

"At the wedding, the cable fell on a metal door and the 23 people who died were all electrocuted," Eastern Province official Abdullah Khashman said by phone.

A photograph of the aftermath of the accident, published on local newspapers' websites showed a large courtyard strewn with fallen chairs and a pole in the middle supporting cables carrying lightbulbs.

- snip -

Saudi Arabia banned the shooting of firearms at weddings, a popular tradition in tribal areas of the conservative Islamic kingdom, last month.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/31/us-saudi-wedding-electrocuted-idUSBRE89U0FJ20121031