No fewer than 78 people have been confirmed dead and hundreds injured in a stampede in Yemen’s capital, Africa Today News, New York has gathered.
The stampede happened on Wednesday night as hundreds of people crowded into a school in Sanaa in the hope of getting a charitable donation of about $10 that was being handed out by merchants to mark the final days of Ramadan.
Witnesses Abdel-Rahman Ahmed and Yahia Mohsen told the Associated Press news agency that armed Houthis had fired into the air in an attempt at crowd control, apparently hitting an electrical wire, which exploded and caused panic among those waiting.
Footage broadcast by the Houthis’ Al Masirah TV channel which was obtained by Africa Today News, New York showed bodies packed together, with people climbing on each other to try and make their way through.
The footage showed that many had their mouths covered by other people’s hands, the rest of their bodies engulfed by the dense crowd.
Separate photos released by the Houthis, who control the capital, showed bloodstains, shoes, and victims’ clothing scattered on the ground with investigators were seen examining the area.
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At least 73 of the injured were taken to the al-Thowra Hospital in Sanaa, according to hospital deputy director Hamdan Bagheri, with families rushing to hospitals to try and find their loved ones.
The Houthi-controlled Ministry of Interior’s spokesperson Brig Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri described the incident as “tragic” blaming the ‘random distribution’ of funds without coordination with local authorities.
The two merchants who organised the event had been detained and an investigation was under way, the ministry said. The Houthis announced they would pay $2,000 in compensation to each family who lost a relative, while the injured would get about $400.
Sanaa has been under the control of the Houthis since 2014 when they removed the country’s internationally-recognized government which led to the intervention of a Saudi-led coalition a year later.
Africa Today News, New York reports that more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, have been killed in the conflict, which has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
More than 21 million people in Yemen, or two-thirds of the country’s population, need assistance and protection, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.