A bride was killed at her own wedding when a stray celebratory bullet fired by a guest hit her in the head.
Mahvash Leghaei, 24, was toasting her marriage following the ceremony in Iran when the fatal shot was blasted from a high-powered hunting rifle.
The single bullet is understood to have gone straight through the psychology graduate’s skull.
She was rushed to hospital and was in a coma before later dying.
Two male guests were also injured by the gunfire.
The shooter – who police said had “poor control of the weapon” – then fled the scene before he was tracked down by cops.
Police spokesman Colonel Mehdi Jokar said: “We had an emergency call of a shooting at a wedding hall in Firuzabad city and officers were dispatched immediately.
“The officers discovered that somebody had fired shots with a hunting rifle as part of the local nomad tradition, but unfortunately because of the crowds and the person’s poor control of the weapon, he managed to shoot three people, two men and the bride.
“The shooter then fled the area but police located the man still carrying the unlicensed hunting rifle that had been fired at the wedding.”
The custom of firing a gun at weddings is still common in the Middle East – despite being illegal.
Local reports said two bullets were fired, with the second hitting the bride’s head and two other people.
The shooter was identified as a 36-year-old who has not been named, but said to be a cousin of the groom.