At least 53 people have died in a stampede in Sanaa, Yemen. (Representative)
Sana:
More than 80 people were killed and hundreds wounded in a stampede during a charity distribution in Yemen’s capital, Houthi officials told AFP on Thursday.
The latest tragedy to strike the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country came just days before the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
A Houthi security official said at least “85 people were killed and more than 322 wounded” after a stampede in Sanaa’s Bab al-Yaman district.
“The dead included women and children because he was not authorized to speak to the press,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
A second health official confirmed the toll.
An AFP correspondent in the Houthi-controlled capital said the incident happened inside a school where aid was being distributed.
There was heavy deployment of security forces around the area as people flocked to the spot hoping to trace their relatives, but were prevented from visiting the site.
The interior ministry said in a statement carried by the rebels’ Sabah news agency that the dead and wounded had been taken to nearby hospitals and those responsible for the distribution had been taken into custody.
The authorities have demanded an inquiry.
The Houthi Interior Ministry did not give exact numbers, but said that “dozens were killed due to a stampede during the random distribution of money by some businessmen”.
Videos circulating on social media showed bodies lying on the ground inside a large compound with people screaming around them.
AFP could not independently verify the footage.
– widespread poverty –
Civil war broke out in Yemen in 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year to support the internationally recognized government.
Fighting has reduced dramatically since six months of a UN-brokered truce last year, even after it ended in October.
But the war unleashed what the United Nations describes as one of the world’s worst humanitarian tragedies.
According to the United Nations, more than two-thirds of the population live below the poverty line, including government employees in Houthi-controlled areas who have not been paid civil servants’ salaries for years.
According to the United Nations, more than 21.7 million people – two-thirds of the country – are in need of humanitarian assistance this year.
The stampede tragedy overshadowed the joy of a massive prisoner swap between the country’s warring parties, in which nearly 900 detainees were freed over the weekend.
On Monday, more than 100 other prisoners of war were airlifted from Saudi Arabia to Yemen.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
