At least 78 people are said to have been killed with dozens more injured in a stampede at an event to distribute financial aid in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, according to the controlling forces there.
According to officials from the Houthi-run Interior Ministry, the crush occurred in the Old City in the centre of Sanaa when hundreds of people gathered at a school as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan neared its end.
Brigadier Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri, a spokesman for the military, blamed the crush on the “random distribution” of funds without the co-ordination of the local authorities.
Eyewitnesses said armed Houthis shot in the air in an attempt to control the crowd, apparently striking an electrical wire and causing it to explode. That set off a panic among the crowds gathered and people began stampeding, they said.
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Motaher al-Marouni, a senior health official, said at least 13 of the injured had seriously injuries.
The Interior Ministry said it had detained two organisers and an investigation was under way.
Yemen’s capital has been under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthis since they removed the internationally recognised government in 2014.
Attempts to restore the government by a Saudi-led coalition has led to a conflict that has resulted in the deaths of more than 150,000 people and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
