SANAA, Yemen: At least 85 people were killed and dozens more wounded when a stampede broke out at an event organized to distribute financial aid late Wednesday in Yemen’s capital, a Houthi official said. According to the Houthi-run Interior Ministry, the crush occurred in the Old City in the center of Sanaa when hundreds of poor people gathered at an event organized by merchants.
The ministry’s spokesman, Brigadier Abdel-Khaliq al-Aghari, blamed the disaster on the ‘random distribution’ of funds without coordination with local authorities. Dozens of casualties were taken to nearby hospitals. Motaher al-Marouni, a senior health official in Sanaa, gave the death toll and said at least 13 people were seriously wounded, according to the Houthi’s al-Masirah satellite TV channel.
The rebels immediately sealed off the school where the event was held and barred the public, including journalists, from entering. Eyewitnesses, Abdel-Rahman Ahmed and Yahia Mohsen, said that in an attempt to control the crowd, armed Houthis fired into the air, apparently hitting an electric wire and detonating it. This created panic and people started going on a rampage, he said.
The Houthi-run Interior Ministry said it had detained two organizers and an investigation was underway. Yemen’s capital is controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthis since they overran their northern stronghold in 2014 and ousted the internationally recognized government. The Houthi move prompted a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government.
The conflict has turned into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran in recent years. The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and has resulted in one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.