At least 78 people were killed in a stampede in the Yemeni capital Sanaa as hundreds gathered at a school to get help, witnesses and Houthi media said on Thursday. Several people were injured, including 13 who were in critical condition, Al Masirah TV, which is run by Iran’s Houthi movement, reported, citing Sanaa’s health director.
The stampede occurred during the distribution of charity donations by traders in the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a spokesman for the Houthi-controlled interior ministry said in a statement.
Hundreds of people flocked to the school to accept the donations, which amounted to 5,000 Yemeni riyals, or about $9 per person, two witnesses involved in the rescue effort told Reuters.
A video posted by Houthi television on the Telegram messaging app showed a crowd of people huddled together, some shouting and screaming, reaching to be dragged to safety. Security personnel fought to push people back and control the crowd.
Another video after the stampede showed dozens of discarded shoes, crutches and clothes on the steps of the building as forensic investigators in protective white suits sorted through personal belongings.
78 were killed in Yemeni capital Sanaa
Two businessmen responsible for organizing the donation drive have been detained and an investigation is underway, the interior ministry said.
Yemen is embroiled in an eight-year civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed the economy and driven millions into starvation. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis overthrew the government from the capital Sanaa in 2014. The conflict is widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee, said the crackdown was the result of the Yemeni people suffering “the worst global humanitarian crisis” after eight years of fighting.
“We are holding the countries of aggression responsible for what has happened and the bitter reality the Yemeni people are living in because of the aggression and the blockade,” he said on Twitter.
Riyadh and Tehran agreed in March to restore diplomatic ties severed in 2016, and a prisoner exchange between the two sides this month raised hopes for a resolution to the conflict. A top negotiator for Yemen’s Houthi movement said recent peace talks with Saudi Arabia had progressed and more discussions would be held to iron out remaining differences.
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