On Wednesday night, at least 85 people were killed and 322 were injured in the Bab al-Yemen area of Sana’a, according to Al-Houthi health officials who spoke to AFP on Thursday.
The Yemeni interior ministry reported that a large number of people were tragically killed in a stampede when merchants gave out money.
According to Saba news agency, the Interior Ministry stated that those responsible for the distribution were taken into custody, while the dead and injured were moved to nearby hospitals.
Authorities have demanded an investigation be conducted.
The distribution took place days before Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that celebrates the conclusion of Ramadan.
Footage shared on social media depicted people gathering around corpses lying on the floor within a large building.
According to a new report from the United Nations, millions of Yemenis are now facing hunger as a result of the “worst humanitarian crisis” in the world, caused by seven years of war and a tight siege imposed by Riyadh and its regional allies on the impoverished Middle Eastern country.
In March 2015, the US and other Western states provided arms and logistics support to Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies, who then launched an aggressive war on Yemen.
The goal was to reinstate the Riyadh-supported regime that had previously been in power and suppress the widely supported Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been managing the state in the absence of a functioning government in Yemen.
Despite the immense loss of life and the creation of the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis, the war in Yemen has failed to reach its intended objectives. Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis have perished as a result.
IOM has cautioned that the consequences of the Saudi-led war in Yemen has left 25.5 million Yemenis living in poverty.
The UN migration agency declared that due to the seven years of war in Yemen, more than 4 million people have been forced to leave their homes.
