78 killed in Yemeni capital’s donation stampede; hundreds gathered.
The stampede for donations occurred during merchants’ distribution of charitable offerings in the closing days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to a statement from the Houthi-run Ministry of Interior.
According to the Sanaa health director, a number of individuals were injured, including 13 who were in serious condition. This information was provided by Al Masirah TV, a Houthi movement-affiliated television news channel.
In order to receive the gifts, which totaled 5,000 Yemeni riyals, or around $9 per person, hundreds of people crammed into a school, according to two witnesses who were part in the rescue attempt.
Detail:
Houthi television shared a video of a throng of people jammed together, some of whom were screaming and shouting and reaching out to be pulled to safety. Security personnel tried to push people back and keep the mob under control.
A crutch, clothing, and a number of shoes were left behind after the stampede, and forensic investigators could be seen going through people’s things while wearing protective white suits.
كما بلغنا معلومات أولية
على أمل أن تنشر اللجنة ان شاء الله نتائج النزول لها إلى موقع الحادثةالتاجر عادة يسجل لديه الاسماء ويسلم مباشرة لكن هذه المرة جمع اسماء عدة ايام الى هذه المدرسة
قام باستخدام الشارع الضيق والبوابة الخلفية الذي يرتفع عن مستوى الحوش بمتر ونصف تقريبا شاهد… pic.twitter.com/UJ8agtZFmr— محمد علي الحوثي (@Moh_Alhouthi) April 20, 2023
The interior ministry announced that the two business owners in charge of planning the donation event had been detained and that an investigation was ongoing.
Tens of thousands of people have died during Yemen’s eight-year civil conflict, which has also destroyed the country’s economy and caused millions of others to go hungry.
After the Houthis deposed the government from Sanaa, the country’s capital, in 2014. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen in 2015. The conflict has frequently been referred to as a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The stampede, according to Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, the supreme revolutionary committee leader of the Houthis, was brought on by the Yemeni people experiencing “the worst global humanitarian crisis” following eight years of conflict.
He stated on Twitter that “we hold the countries of aggression accountable for what transpired and for the bitter reality that the Yemeni people live in because of the aggression and blockade.”
Hopes for a peace settlement have been boosted by the exchange of prisoners this month between Riyadh and Tehran and their agreement in March to reestablish diplomatic ties that were broken in 2016.
The chief Houthi negotiator in Yemen claimed that recent peace negotiations with Saudi Arabia had advanced and that additional talks would be held to resolve outstanding issues.
