At least 78 people were killed in a stampede in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the official media of the Houthi movement reported early on Thursday, with several more critically injured.
Al Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement, said that in addition to the dead several people were injured, including 13 in a critical situation, citing the director of health in Sanaa.
The Houthi-controlled Ministry of Interior’s spokesman said in a statement that the stampede took place during the distribution of charitable donations by merchants during the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The spokesman described the incident as “tragic.”
“Tragic”: A stampede in Yemen on Ramadan leaves at least 78 dead
Hundreds of people had crowded into a school to receive the donations, which amounted to 5,000 Yemeni riyals, or about $9 per person, two eyewitnesses involved in the rescue effort told Reuters.
People trapped in the crowd attempt to free themselves during a stampede in Sanaa, Yemen, April 19, 2023, in this still image taken from video. (credit: Al Masirah TV/via Reuters TV/Handout via REUTERS)A video posted by Houthi television on Telegram messaging app showed a crowd of people jammed together, some screaming and shouting and reaching out to be pulled to safety.
The interior ministry also said in a separate statement that the two merchants responsible for organizing the donation event had been detained and an investigation was underway.
Yemen has been embroiled in an eight-year civil war which has killed tens of thousands of people, wrecked the economy and pushed millions into hunger.
A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis ousted the government from the capital Sanaa in 2014. The conflict has widely been seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, said the stampede was the result of the Yemeni people suffering “the worst global humanitarian crisis” after eight years of fighting.
“We hold the countries of aggression responsible for what happened and for the bitter reality that the Yemeni people live in because of the aggression and blockade,” he said on Twitter.
Riyadh and Tehran in March agreed to restore diplomatic ties severed in 2016 and prisoner exchanges this month between the two sides have raised hopes of a resolution to the conflict.
The top negotiator of Yemen’s Houthi movement said recent peace talks with Saudi Arabia had made progress and further discussions would be held to iron out remaining differences.
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