78 killed in stampede at Yemen charity event

ADEN/SANAA, Yemen — At least 78 people were killed in a stampede in the Yemeni capital Sanaa as hundreds gathered in a school to receive aid, Reuters quoted the witnesses and Houthi media as saying on Thursday.

Motaher al-Marouni, a senior health official, said 78 people were killed, according to the Houthi militias' Al-Masirah satellite TV channel. At least 73 others were injured and taken to the Al-Thawra Hospital in Sanaa, according to hospital deputy director Hamdan Bagheri.

The crush took place in the Old City in the center of Sanaa, where hundreds of poor people had gathered for a charity event organized by merchants, according to the Houthirun Interior Ministry. The tragedy came ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan later this week.

The people crowded into a school to receive the donations, which amounted to 5,000 Yemeni riyals, or about $9 per person, two witnesses involved in the rescue effort told Reuters.

"It was a huge crowd. They fell on me, and I got hurt," an injured child told Al-Masirah from his hospital bed.

Footage from one hospital showed survivors recovering in a ward, some with visible wounds on their limbs and heads.

A video posted by Houthi television on the Telegram messaging app showed a crowd of people jammed together, some screaming and shouting and reaching out to be pulled to safety. Security staff fought to push people back and control the crowd.

Another video after the stampede showed scores of discarded shoes, a crutch and clothing on the steps of the building, and forensic investigators in protective white suits sorting through personal belongings.

The two merchants responsible for organizing the donation event had been detained and a probe was underway, the Interior Ministry said.

"We are experiencing a great tragedy, a large number of our citizens have died during this stampede," said Abdulaziz Bin Habtour, the prime minister of the Houthi movement.

In remarks published by the group's media center, he said measures would be taken to "find a serious solution so it does not happen again". The president of the Supreme Judicial Council said that necessary legal measures would be taken.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri blamed the crush on the "random distribution "of funds without coordination with the local authorities.

Humanitarian crisis

The Houthis said they would pay some $2,000 in compensation to each family that has lost a relative, while the injured would get around $400.

Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, said the stampede was the result of the Yemeni people suffering "the worst global humanitarian crisis" after eight years of fighting.

Many Yemenis, impoverished by years of conflict, flocked to charity centers for basic needs.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militias stormed several northern cities and forced the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of Sanaa. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in the conflict in 2015 to support the Yemeni government.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million and pushed Yemen to the brink of starvation.

More than 21 million people in Yemen, or two-thirds of the country's population, need help and protection, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Among those in need, more than 17 million are considered particularly vulnerable.

In February, the United Nations said it had raised only $1.2 billion out of a target of $4.3 billion at a conference aimed at generating funds to ease the humanitarian crisis.

Agencies - Xinhua