Yemen stampede: At least 78 killed in surge for Ramadan donations
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[April 20, 2023]
SANAA (Reuters) -At least 78 people were killed in a
stampede in the Yemeni capital Sanaa as residents gathered at a school
to receive cash donations distributed by merchants during Ramadan,
witnesses and the Houthi administration said on Thursday.
Hundreds of people crowded to receive the alms, which amounted to 5,000
Yemeni riyals, or about $9 per person, two witnesses involved in the
rescue effort told Reuters.
"When the door opened, there was a big rush by people wanting to reach
the school yard first and some people began falling on the steps leading
to the entrance," one medic said.
Two thirds of the population need help in the war-torn country, which
was impoverished even before the conflict erupted eight years ago.
The Houthi health ministry said 77 people were injured, including 13 in
a critical condition, in the charge that occurred during the
distribution of the cash collected in the final days of the Muslim
fasting holy month before the Eid al Fitr festivities.
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Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of the group's supreme revolutionary
committee, said on Twitter that merchants had gathered "several days'"
worth of registered individuals to distribute aid to at one go at a
school, the entrance to which is off a narrow road with steps leading up
to the gate.
A video posted by Houthi television on 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.
'GREAT TRAGEDY'
The two merchants responsible for organising the donation event had been
detained and an investigation was under way, 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, de facto authorities in north Yemen.
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![](../images/042023PIX/news_a10.jpg)
Clothes are pictured on the ground after
a stampede in Sanaa, Yemen, April 19, 2023. Houthi Media
Office/Handout via Reuter
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In remarks published by the group's media centre, 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 the
necessary legal measures would be taken.
Yemen has been mired in an eight-year conflict that pits a military
coalition led by Saudi Arabia against the Iran-aligned Houthi group.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people, wrecked the economy
and pushed millions into hunger.
The United Nation's World Food Programme feeds 13 million in Yemen
but funding shortfalls have reduced its activities.
An expired U.N.-brokered truce has delivered a year of relative
calm, the longest stretch in the conflict, and Saudi Arabia and the
Houthis are engaged in talks in parallel to U.N. efforts to
establish a permanent ceasefire.
The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 against the
Houthis months after the group ousted the internationally recognised
government from Sanaa. The conflict has widely been seen as a proxy
war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Riyadh and Tehran in March agreed to restore diplomatic ties severed
in 2016 and prisoner exchanges this month between the two sides have
raised hopes of a resolution to the conflict.
(Reporting by Hatem Maher in Cairo; Mohammed Alghobari in Aden and
the Yemen team in Sanaa; Writing by Andrew Mills, Michael Perry and
Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Stephen Coates and Alison Williams)
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