Stampede in Yemen at charity event kills at least 80 people
A crowd in Yemen grew panicked on Wednesday after hearing gunfire and an electrical explosion, causing a stampede that killed at least 80 people and injured at least 73 people. The crowd was attending a charity event during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when the stampede occurred.
It was the deadliest tragedy in years for the country that wasn’t connected to the war, The Associated Press reported.
The gunfire and electrical explosion were caused when “armed Houthis fired into the air in an attempt at crowd control, apparently striking an electrical wire and causing it to explode,” per AP.
The actual death toll has not been officially confirmed and could rise. The people had gathered in the Old City in the center of Sanaa in order “to receive less than $10 each from a charity funded by local businessmen,” according to CBS News.
“We are experiencing a great tragedy, a large number of our citizens have died during this stampede,” Prime Minister Abdulaziz bin Habtour said, per CBS News.
According to Reuters, large numbers of people are impoverished in the war-torn country — two-thirds of the 21 million people in the country live in poverty since the war started eight years ago.
Saudi Arabia is backing a military coalition that is fighting against an Iran-backed Houthi rebel group, and the conflict “has killed tens of thousands of people, wrecked the economy and pushed millions into hunger,” per Reuters.
