SANAA: At least 85 people were killed and hundreds injured in a crush at a Ramadan cash handout in Yemen early on Thursday, as the impoverished country suffered one of its worst tragedies just as optimism was growing over its bitter civil war.
Three people were detained over the stampede in Sanaa, Yemen’s rebel-held capital, after large crowds gathered at a school to receive gifts of 5,000 rial (about $8) for the end of Ramazan.
Harrowing footage screened by the Iran-backed Huthi rebels’ Al Masirah TV showed a tightly packed crowd screaming and shoving, unable to move, while others attempted to haul stricken people out of the crush.
Other shots showed dead bodies on the ground as the panic continued. Afterwards, piles of abandoned sandals, clothing and a crutch littered the scene, while an investigator in white protective gear collected evidence.
“It was a huge crowd. They fell on me, and I got hurt,” an injured child told Al Masirah from his hospital bed.
A Huthi security official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that at least 85 people were killed and “more than 322” injured, 50 of them seriously.
“Women and children were among the dead,” the official said. A health official confirmed the toll.
The tragedy comes just ahead of Eid al-Fitrand punctures a buoyant mood over the war in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country, following peace talks and an exchange of nearly 1,000 prisoners last week.
The Huthis, who seized Sanaa in 2014, are fighting a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia that intervened in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall the ousted government.
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Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by the war’s direct or indirect causes, and millions pushed to the brink of famine. But momentum is growing for a truce and peace process, with the Saudis and Huthis holding talks last week.
Eyewitnesses said gunfire sparked a stampede after crowds gathered at the school, in Sanaa’s historic Bab Al-Yemen district, to receive the handouts from a businessman. AFP could not verify the reports of gunfire.
The head of the Huthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee, Mohamed Ali al-Huthi, blamed “overcrowding”, saying people were packed in a narrow street leading to the school’s back entrance.
Once the gates opened, the crowd streamed into a tight staircase leading to the courtyard where the distribution was taking place. “Citizens were informed a week ago that sums of money would be disbursed without ID verification,” said one witness.
“People flocked in a huge way, the gate opened, and with the large numbers, the stampede happened.”
The Huthis’ political chief Mahdi al-Mashat said a committee had been formed to investigate, and a Huthi security official said three people had been detained on suspicion of involvement.
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