At least 85 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in a stampede in the Yemeni capital during a charity distribution of money, the Houthi rebel authorities who control part of the country told AFP on Thursday.
The poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula is battered by a long-running war pitting Iran-backed Houthi rebels against a government backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.
In this context, and on the eve of the End of Fasting Festival of the month of Ramadan, an aid distribution event at a school in the capital Sanaa ended in tragedy.
At least “85 people were killed and more than 322 injured” in the blast in the Bab al Yemen district of Sana’a, a Houthi security official said.
“There are women and children among the dead,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. A medical source confirmed the balance.
An AFP correspondent in the Houthi-controlled capital said the incident took place inside a school where aid was being distributed.
Hundreds of people had gathered to get some assistance, according to witnesses.
A video broadcast on Houthi Al Masirah television showed a crowd of people, huddled together, with people trying to climb over the rest to get out of the crush.
Many had their mouths and faces covered by the hands of others and the rest of their bodies swallowed up in the dense crowd, according to this recording.
Armed fighters in military attire as well as aid workers yelled at them to back off.
The dead and injured were taken to nearby hospitals and the people responsible for the charity distribution were taken into police custody, the Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the Houthi news agency, Saba.
The ministry did not offer an exact balance but noted that “dozens of people died due to a stampede during a random distribution of money by some merchants.”
Rebel police chief Mahdi al Mashat said a committee had been formed to investigate the events.
A Houthi security official said three people were detained for their alleged involvement in the accident.
The families of the victims rushed to the hospitals, but many were unable to enter because senior officials were visiting the wounded and paying their respects to the dead.
An AFP correspondent in Sana’a observed large crowds flocking to the entrance of a hospital.
The security forces were deployed at the scene of the event and prevented the passage of people who were approaching to find their relatives.
The images broadcast by Al Masirah television show bodies lying throughout the complex, full of sandals and pieces of clothing once the area was cleaned.
More than eight years of civil war have left Yemen mired in what the UN defines as one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in the world.
The conflict began in 2014 when Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital. A year later, a Saudi-led coalition stepped in to back the internationally recognized government.
Fighting has dropped significantly since the UN managed to hammer out a six-month truce last year. Although it expired in October, relative calm remains.
Yet more than two-thirds of its population lives below the poverty line, according to the UN, even government employees in rebel-held areas have not received their civil servant salaries for years.
In addition, 21.7 million people, which is equivalent to two thirds of the population, need humanitarian assistance this year, according to the United Nations.
This tragedy dulls the excitement sparked by a massive prisoner swap between the warring parties that freed 900 people over the weekend.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project