Dozens killed in Yemen stampede during aid distribution
At least 85 people were killed and 322 injured on Thursday in Yemen, in one of the largest stampedes in the world in the past ten years, during the distribution of financial aid in the capital of the country plunged by war and poverty, indicating the size of the crisis in the country.
The Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country has been gripped since 2014 by a war between the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who control Sana’a and pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.
“The war has killed hundreds of thousands either directly or in its aftermath, with millions of people at risk of starvation and thousands in need of urgent medical treatment unavailable in a country whose infrastructure has been destroyed.”
The tragedy occurred just days before Eid al-Fitr, during a period during which money and aid are often distributed to the poor.
“Eighty-five people were killed and more than 322 were wounded, including 50 in critical condition” in the stampede, a Houthi security official said. A medical official confirmed the death toll in the incident, which occurred in the Bab al-Yemen area in central Sanaa.
“Women and children are among the dead,” the security official said on condition of anonymity.
Journalists said the incident took place inside a particular school where, according to eyewitness accounts, hundreds of people gathered to receive aid. Some said gunfire caused the stampede.
Video footage aired by the Houthi-run al-Massira TV channel showed dozens of people scrambling in a tight spot, with some shouting: “Go back, go back!”
The Houthis did not disclose the cause of the stampede. But the Houthi-run news agency Saba quoted Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier-General Abdul Khaliq al-Ajari as saying the incident occurred “because citizens were scrambling during the indiscriminate distribution of sums of money by some traders.”
“The dead and injured were taken to hospitals, and two of the merchants in charge of the issue were arrested,” he said.
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Higher Political Council, tweeted that the stampede occurred because of overcrowding and narrow streets where crowds had gathered.
In front of al-Thawra hospital, a large number of victims’ families gathered to try to enter, but security forces were preventing them from doing so. Officials visited the hospital.
Houthi security forces cordoned off Maeen School at the Bab al-Yemen Old City in Sana’a when the incident occurred, preventing access to the site and filming it.
Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Supreme Political Council of the Houthis, announced the “formation of a committee from the Interior, Security, Intelligence, Judiciary and Prosecution Services to investigate the stampede”, Saba reported. Authorities “arrested three merchants in connection with the incident”, said a security official in Sanaa.
Tragic point
This is one of the largest stampede incidents in the world in the last 10 years, based on the outcome of this type of incident.
Videos circulated on social media showed bodies lying on the ground inside a large compound.
The United Nations says more than 21.7 million people (two-thirds of the population) need humanitarian aid this year.
Many Yemeni government employees in areas under Houthi control have been unpaid for years.
A United Nations-brokered truce ended in early October 2022, but the parties to the conflict have not reached an agreement to extend it. But the situation on the ground has remained relatively calm.
The UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said on Monday that the country, which has been mired in war for eight years, has not seen such a “serious chance” for peace, but that much work remains to be done.
“On Monday, three aircraft flew some 100 prisoners held by the Riyadh-led coalition to Yemen as part of a major three-day prisoner swap involving nearly 900 prisoners from both sides of the conflict, reviving hopes for a truce soon.”
“The latest exchange coincided with diplomatic efforts resulting from a Saudi-Iranian rapprochement, aimed at consolidating a long-term ceasefire and putting the impoverished country’s bloody war on the verge of resolution.”
A Saudi delegation led by ambassador Mohammed al-Jaber held rare talks with the Houthis in Sanaa this week, but left Thursday without a final agreement but with a “tentative” understanding on a truce and a round of talks.
The UN envoy welcomed this “constructive dialog,” noting that “an encouraging regional environment will enhance peace efforts.”
“But this trend could still reverse if the parties do not take bolder steps towards peace,” he warned.
“We hold the criminal killers who brought the situation to this tragic point, and turned the lives of millions of Yemenis into hell, fully responsible for this crime,” Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani said on Twitter, referring to the Houthis.
