A stampede in Sanaa, Yemen resulted in at least 78 deaths and dozens of injuries, Houthi officials said as per the Associated Press. Several videos and photos of the incident were circulated on social media.
According to the Houthi-run Interior Ministry, the stampede took place when hundreds of poor people were gathered at the event organized by merchants without coordination with local authorities. Eyewitnesses Abdel-Rahman Ahmed and Yahia Mohsen, as per AP, said that armed Houthis shot in the air in an attempt to control the crowd. However, it struck an electrical wire and caused an explosion. “That sparked panic and people began stampeding,” they said.
Brig Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri, the ministry’s spokesperson, blamed the disaster on the “random distribution” of funds without coordination with local authorities. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals.
A senior health officer Motaher al-Marouni, as per the report, gave an initial death tally. He said that at least 13 were seriously injured, according the Houthi’s Al-Masirah satellite TV channel.
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The Associated Press added that the Houthis sealed off the school where the event was organised. Citizens and journalists were asked to keep out of the premises.
The Houthi-run Interior Ministry in a statement said that two organisers have been detained and an investigation was underway.
“Absolutely devastating news out of #Yemen. 79 people killed in a stampede organized to distribute charity to poor people before the Eid holiday,” a Twitter user said.
Another one noted that there were three main theories going around: an apparent shooting, an explosion of an electric transformer and shooting and transformer explosion.
