Four young women were battling for life yesterday in Abqaiq following a freak accident that claimed 24 lives during a wedding celebration late Tuesday night.

According to a nursing attendant at a hospital, the young women are in the intensive care unit. “They have suffered severe burns. They are badly injured and in a state of shock,” she told Arab News. “Both legs of one woman had to be amputated last night to stanch blood flow and save her.”

The disaster was a result of celebratory gunfire at a wedding that brought down a high-tension electric cable. It fell on a metal door that served as the only exit to an open courtyard where women were celebrating the wedding.

Eastern Province Gov. Prince Mohammed bin Fahd, who called on the relatives of the victims, has ordered a high-level inquiry into the accident.

Many of the victims were laid to rest during a mass burial at a local graveyard in Abqaiq yesterday. The funeral prayers were attended by most members of the Al-Hajri clan and other local government and civic officials. Most of the victims of the tragedy were Al-Hajris, an influential tribe.

Eyewitnesses told Arab News of the harrowing moments in the run-up to the tragedy.

As is the custom, some enthusiastic young men fired in the air to celebrate the wedding. Some of the bullets shattered the high-tension electrical wire which was carrying up to 13,000 volts. The wire fell directly on the metal door. Panicked women rushed toward the only door and one after another were electrocuted.

“The moment they came in contact with the electrified door, they were reduced to ashes. They turned completely black,” said one eyewitness. “Nobody knew what was happening and all those who rushed to rescue the distressed ones themselves became the victims.”

Realizing the magnitude of the disaster, two young Saudis decided to open an outlet through the concrete barrier enclosing the courtyard.

“They decided to turn their cars into a battering ram to open a hole and rescue the now screaming and hysterical women inside,” said another eyewitness.

“The young Saudi rammed his car into the concrete wall, but did not succeed. His car went up in flames,” said the eyewitness. “Another young Saudi rammed his car at the now softened wall and succeeded in managing to create a small hole. It was through this hole that women were brought out. The metal remained charged for a very long time and nobody dared to touch the victims’ bodies for fear of being electrocuted.”

Nobody thought of informing the Saudi Electricity Co. to shut off power to the area. Some Saudis retrieved the bodies by tying their igal and shumagh, the traditional headdress, to the badly burned bodies and pulling them away from the metal door.

A pall of gloom has enveloped the town and everywhere the tragedy is the subject of intense discussion and disappointment.

“We believe in Allah, and this was His will,” said Abdullah Al-Hajri, a native of Abqaiq. “May Allah have mercy on their souls. There is not much we can say about this tragedy, except pray for the victims and their families.”