April 20, (THEWILL) – Over 80 people were killed and hundreds injured in a stampede at a charity distribution event in Yemen, on Thursday, Houthi officials said.
This is coming a few days before Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday celebrated around the world by feasting to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Hundreds of people in the war-torn country had gathered at a school in the capital, Sanaa to receive cash handouts of 5,000 Yemeni Rials (around $8).
At least “85 were killed and more than 322 were injured” in the stampede in the Bab al-Yemen district of the capital. Women and children were among the dead,” a Houthi security official said.
The Houthi-run Interior Ministry said the dead and injured have been evacuated to hospitals, and those responsible for the event arrested.
According to the head of the Houthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee, Mohamed Ali al-Huthi, “overcrowding” caused the stampede.
People were packed in a narrow street leading to the school’s back entrance, he said.
Once the gates opened, the crowd streamed into a tight staircase leading to the courtyard where the distribution was taking place.
A video broadcast by Al Masirah TV channel showed a cluster of bodies packed together, with people climbing on top of each other to try to make their way through.
Armed men in military garb and distribution workers screamed at the crowd to turn back as they tried to pull people out of the crush.
Eyewitnesses, however, said that gunfire caused people to rush in a panic.
After the stampede, families converged on hospitals but many were not allowed to enter as top officials were also visiting the dead and wounded.
