Global Courant 2023-04-20 04:55:36
People rallied late Wednesday at an event to distribute financial aid in the Yemeni capital, killing at least 78 people and injuring dozens more, an official said.
The infatuation took place in the old town in central Sanaa as hundreds of poor people gathered at the event organized by merchants, according to the Houthi-run interior ministry.
Ministry spokesman Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri blames the disaster on the “arbitrary distribution” of funds without coordination with local authorities.
Dozens of victims were taken to nearby hospitals. Motaher al-Marouni, a senior health official in Sanaa, gave the death toll, according to the Houthis’ Al-Masirah satellite broadcaster.
The Houthi rebels quickly sealed off the school where the event was hosted and barred access to people, including journalists.
Wire exploded, causing panic
Eyewitnesses, Abdel-Rahman Ahmed and Yahia Mohsen, said armed Houthis fired into the air in an attempt to control the crowd, apparently hitting an electrical wire and causing it to explode. That led to panic and people started to run wild, they said.
The interior ministry said it had detained two organizers and an investigation was underway.
Yemen’s capital is controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthis, who descended from their northern stronghold in 2014 and removed the internationally recognized government.
That prompted a Saudi-led coalition to step in 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 claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people, including combatants and civilians, and has resulted in one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
