No fewer than 80 people were killed and more than 100 injured during a Ramadan charity distribution in Yemen.
According to reports, the incident occurred on Thursday, April 20, 2023, at Bab-al-Yemen area of Yemeni capital Sanaa.
The latest tragedy to strike the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country came days ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
At least “85 were killed and more than 322 were injured” after the stampede in the Bab al-Yemen district of the capital, a Huthi security official said.
“Women and children were among the dead,” he told AFP on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to journalists.
A second health official confirmed the toll.
An AFP correspondent in Huthi-controlled Sanaa said the incident took place inside a school where aid was being distributed.
Hundreds of people had gathered to receive handouts, according to witnesses.
The dead and injured have been moved to nearby hospitals and those responsible for the distribution were taken into custody, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the rebel’s Saba news agency.
The ministry did not provide an exact toll but said “dozens of people were killed due to a stampede during a random distribution of sums of money by some merchants”.
The Huthi rebel’s political chief Mahdi al-Mashat said a committee has been formed to investigate.
A Huthi security official said three people had been detained on suspicion of involvement.