KUWAIT CITY: The ex-wife of the groom at a Kuwait wedding party that turned into tragedy when a fierce fire engulfed a tent, killing 43 women and children, has confessed to starting the blaze, local newspapers reported yesterday.

Al-Qabas newspaper said the 23-year-old woman had told police she used petrol to torch the packed wedding tent to avenge her ex-husband's "bad treatment" of her before their divorce.

Interior ministry spokesman Colonel Mohammad al-Saber told state-run Kuwait Television that the fire - which engulfed the tent in just minutes - was an act of arson.