At least 78 killed, dozens injured, in Yemen stampede

Tragedy happened when hundreds broke into a school hoping to receive financial donations handed out by merchants.

At least 78 people have been killed and dozens injured in a stampede in the Yemeni capital, according to Houthi officials and media.

The stampede came late on Wednesday as hundreds of people burst into a school in Sanaa hoping to receive charitable donations handed out by merchants to mark the last days of Ramadan, the spokesman for the Houthi-controlled interior ministry said in a statement. .

Witnesses Abdel-Rahman Ahmed and Yahia Mohsen told the Associated Press news agency that armed Houthis had fired into the air in an attempt to contain the crowd, apparently hitting an electrical wire, which exploded and caused panic among those waiting.

Video posted to social media showed dozens of bodies lying on the ground, some motionless and others screaming as people tried to help.

Dozens of the injured have been taken to nearby hospitals.

Motaher al-Marouni, a senior health official in the capital, gave the death toll and said at least 13 people were seriously injured, according to the Houthis’ TV channel Al Masirah.

A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior called the incident “tragic”.

The Interior Ministry said it had detained the two merchants who staged the event and an investigation was underway.

Sanaa has been under the control of the Houthis since 2014, when they overthrew the country’s internationally recognized government.

That led to the intervention of a Saudi-led coalition a year later.

More than 150,000 people, including combatants and civilians, have died 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, are in need of assistance and protection, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.