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Yemen crowd crush: at least 85 dead after Houthi gunfire sparks panic Yemen crowd crush: at least 85 dead after Houthi gunfire sparks panic
(about 8 hours later)
Merchants were handing out money from Ramadan when rebels tried to control crowd by shooting in the air, say witnessesMerchants were handing out money from Ramadan when rebels tried to control crowd by shooting in the air, say witnesses
A crowd apparently scared by gunfire and an electrical explosion ran in panic at an event to hand out money during Ramadan in Yemen’s capital late on Wednesday, with the resulting crush killing at least 78 people and injuring at least 73 others, according to witnesses and Houthi rebel officials. At least 85 people, many of them children, have died in a crush during a charity handout marking the end of Ramadan in the Yemeni capital, prompting bitter recriminations and a number of arrests.
The tragedy was Yemen’s deadliest in years that was not related to its long-running war, and came ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan this week. Three businessmen have been arrested over the incident in Sana’a, which is controlled by the rebel Houthi group. A further 322 people were injured, of whom 50 are in a serious condition.
Armed Houthis fired into the air in an attempt at crowd control, apparently striking an electrical wire and causing an explosion, according to two witnesses, Abdel-Rahman Ahmed and Yahia Mohsen. That sparked a panic, and people including many women and children, began running, they said. The circumstances of the crush and the large death toll underline the extent of poverty and the dire humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country.
Video posted on social media showed dozens of bodies, some motionless, and others screaming as people tried to help. Separate footage of the aftermath released by Houthi officials showed bloodstains, shoes and victims’ clothing scattered on the ground. Investigators were seen examining the area. The Houthis blamed detained businessmen for offering to distribute money without first coordinating with their officials. The businessmen in turn accused the Houthis of trying for weeks to ban them from distributing cash and insisting that any distributions be run by the rebels.
The crush took place in the Old City in the center of Sana’a, where hundreds of poor people had gathered for a charity event organised by merchants, according to the Houthi-run interior ministry. Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, said his office had been pained and deeply saddened by the crush. “My heartfelt condolences go out to all Yemenis grieving today and I wish the injured a speedy recovery,” he said.
People had gathered to receive about $10 each from a charity funded by local businesses, witnesses said. Wealthy people and businesses often hand out cash and food, especially to the poor, during Ramadan. Sana’a Houthi authorities blamed the tragedy on “overcrowding” in the narrow alley in the old quarter of Sana’a leading to the school where the money was being distributed, and the “random distribution” of aid without coordination. The interior ministry said it would be stepping up its control of the distribution of the Zakat – the 2.5% of their wealth above a minimum amount that Muslims are required to pay to poor and needy people each year, and which is often disrtibuted during Ramadan.
Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri from the interior ministry blamed the crush on the “random distribution” of funds without coordination with local authorities. Witnesses said the crush started when people rushed in a panic towards the school after hearing gunfire and an electrical explosion. Armed Houthis had fired into the air in an attempt at crowd control, apparently striking an electrical wire and causing an explosion, according to two witnesses, Abdel-Rahman Ahmed and Yahia Mohsen.
Motaher al-Marouni, a senior health official, said 78 people were killed, according to the rebels’ al-Masirah satellite TV channel. At least 73 others were injured and taken to the al-Thowra Hospital in Sana’a, according to hospital deputy director Hamdan Bagheri. TV footage 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 TV from his hospital bed.
The rebels quickly sealed off a school where the event was being held and barred people, including journalists, from approaching. People had gathered after a businessman invited poor people to a school to receive about 5,000 rial (£16) each without any requirement to provide ID – an attempt to reduce the stigma of such distributions. The entrance way to Maeen School at Bab Al-Yemen in Sanaa’a is relatively narrow.
The interior ministry said it had detained two organisers and an investigation was under way. “It is a sign of the extreme poverty now in Sana’a that so many people had gathered,” said Saba Hamzah, a Yemeni scholar.
The Houthis said they would pay about $2,000 in compensation to each family who lost a relative while the injured would get about $400. Hamza accused the Houthis of refusing to pay salaries in areas they control as a way of population control. “A lot of merchants from Sana’a distribute charity because many people can only survive through this solidarity system,” Hamzah said. “But the Houthis want all this to be done through them because they want to get khums [a form of tax in Shia societies set at one fifth of someone’s wealth].
Yemen’s capital has been under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthis since they descended from their northern stronghold in 2014 and removed the internationally recognised government. “People gathered imagining they would come back to their homes with a tiny bit of happiness for their kids, but never returned,” she said.
That prompted a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 to try to restore the government. Moammer al-Eryani, the information minister for the internationally recognised, Aden-based government of Yemen, said: “Those who bear responsibility for the incident are the ones who plundered food from the mouths of the hungry, imposed restrictions on international relief organizations, prevented merchants and philanthropists from distributing alms to the needy, plundered zakat and endowment funds, and imposed illegal fees and levies.”
The conflict has turned in recent years into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, killing more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians and creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters. The Houthis said they would pay about $2,000 (£1,600) in compensation to each family who lost a relative, while injured people would get about $400.
More than 21 million people in Yemen, or two-thirds of the country’s population, need help and protection, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Among those in need, more than 17 million are considered particularly vulnerable. Yemen’s capital has been under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthis since they descended from their northern stronghold in 2014 and removed the internationally recognised government. That prompted a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 to try to restore the government.
In February the UN said it had raised only $1.2bn out of a target of $4.3bn at a conference aimed at generating funds to ease the humanitarian crisis. In recent years the conflict has turned into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, killing more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians and creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
With Reuters More than 21 million people in Yemen – or two-thirds of the country’s population – need help and protection, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Among those in need, more than 17 million people are considered particularly vulnerable.
In February the UN said it had raised only $1.2bn out of a target of $4.3bn, at a conference aimed at generating funds to ease the humanitarian crisis.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report